Lifeless

One Thing Lacking

“Having a form…but denying the power…” What a tragedy to see one who has the form of a lifeguard, only to find he or she cannot swim. But, how much more tragic it is to behold Christians who pass themselves off as being Spirit-filled, yet who are powerless to help anyone. True, they may have form, but their deeds deny the fact that they have the power of God.

Ezekiel’s dry bones came together and had all the external characteristics we require to pass muster, but they needed the breath of God upon them, before they could really get on their feet and be greatly used.

I’m afraid many of us have lost our “axe-heads.” But rather than stop and find it again, we continue to go through the tiring motions of chopping, in spite of the revealing fact that chips are no longer flying nor trees falling.

A Christian without the breath of God is like a mannequin; they look good, but that’s as far as it goes.

Test Time

The Professor and His Son

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?”

Charles Spurgeon says of this text, "If all the trials which come from heaven, all the temptations which ascend from hell, and all the crosses which arise from earth, could be mixed and pressed together, they would not make a trial so terrible as that which is contained in this verse. It is the most bitter of all afflictions to be led to fear that there is no help for us in God. And yet remember our most blessed Saviour had to endure this in the deepest degree."

What is one to do during those times, which St John of the Cross calls, The Dark Night of the Soul?” Are we to doubt our Lord’s promise, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Most certainly not!  A father who is his son’s English professor may leave him during test time, not being able to help him, but by no means has he deserted him. At Calvary, Jesus was taking His finals before graduation. It  was something He had to do on His own; no one could do it for Him; not even His loving Father.

Not only does our main text speak prophetically of our Lord, but was also true of David historically. Most certainly, not to the same extent and depth, nevertheless in a lesser form. David tells us he felt like a fatally wounded animal, all alone, roaring in the black of night. To me, this is the ultimate Christ-like experience, when, as in the Old Testament, one can testify to the fact that the darkness could be felt (Ex.10:21). As the song says, “THEN CAME THE MORNING!”

David's Remedy

How to Stay Fresh

“I shall be anointed with fresh oil.”

There is none like God’s anointing oil. It was pure and sweet, not rancid: it was always “fresh!”  Woe be to those who attempt to imitate anything like unto it (Ex.30:32). One of the things it depicted (power, discernment, etc) was joyfulness, exuberance, happiness. It is said of our Lord, “Thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”

There are times we all feel that our Christian life is becoming repetitious, ritualistic, and in danger of stagnation. How can this be cured? For us New Testament saints, by simply realizing that each day is a resurrection day. It’s a new beginning. There is no past. Yesterday’s grave clothes are to be left behind in the tomb as we come forth to walk in newness of life.

Each morning, our meeting with God should be, as it were, for the first time. Each day is a first for everything. All things are to become new with the rising of the sun. The excitement of sins forgiven, communion with a Holy God, and being able to pray like it was the first time, bring freshness into our Christian life.

Don’t bring yesterday into today. If it’s more than a day old, it’s not fresh.

(rds)

The "ONE" and Only

Christ’s Merit Badge

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

My wife sings a lovely song entitled, “The Answer.” In it there is a line that says, “I come in the merits of Jesus.” You would think that every child of God would realize this fact, but it seems “strutting saints” are the “in thing” in this age.

Christ alone is the only one who is worthy to wear a “merit badge.” But in spite of this truth, as proud peacocks, we continue to swagger down the church aisles trying to impress with our man-made plumes.

But all our good deeds apart from Christ, in God’s sight, are no more than “righteous rags.” As an old preacher used to crudely say, “The only thing any of us deserve is to be lying on the floor in Hell, with our backs broken.”

It’s difficult for self-righteous creatures as we to admit to our sad state without Christ. There is a great line in the newest remake of the movie, 3:10 to Yuma. The truth of the statement is a must if you want to know God. “Sometimes a man has to be big enough to admit how small he is.”

The Facts of Life

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” The wise writer is laying down for us the facts of life. He does this by a series of contrasts. He tells us there is a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and pluck up; to kill and heal; to break down and build up; to weep and to laugh; to mourn and dance; to cast away stones and gather them; to embrace and to refrain from it; to get and to lose; to keep and cast away; to rend and sew, to love and hate; and to go to war and to have peace.

Someone has said, “Consistency is the virtue of fools.” There are misguided Christians who actually believe that life can be lived on an even plain. What a rude awakening when they realize the truth that life is a series of ups and downs. Life cannot be lived in an incubator. God does not protect us from distasteful experiences, nor will He keep from us the exuberant, joyful times. They are both part of God’s mix.

Mature Christians take life as it comes; and they do it realizing, in the final end, everything will work out for their good and God’s glory.

When your cup is full of bitterness, God’s sugar bowl is close at hand.

Half a Shave

Don’t Let the Devil Shame You

“Wherefore, Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off the half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.”

What a considerate king! What a loving concern he showed toward his blushing servants. We, too, have such a King. But ours, we are told, is greater than David. When the enemy of our souls takes from us, leaving us nothing but shame, it is then that our Compassionate Sovereign manifests His tender mercies toward our embarrassment and hurt.

Some things our adversary robs us of can be presently replaced (such as the garments). But there are other things we must patiently wait for their return (the growth of their beards). Remember, Samson’s hair began to “grow again” after he was shaved.

The devil may cause us shame for a season, but God knows how to shame him in the end. Consider Job. God gave back to him twice as much as Satan had taken. Losses do not mean we are less of a Christian. Do not give up the other things, when you’ve lost some things. “…hold that fast which thou hast.” God is excellent at math, especially addition.

Knowledge in the Dark

Paul...The Know-It-All

“For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer...For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens...for I know whom I have believed...And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Taking just these few instances, the man of the world would peg Paul as a know-it-all. And after reading the latter, would add he no doubt had a screw loose. For the man under the sun believes one event happens to all the same. That it rains on the just and the unjust alike. While this is true, the the effect on each isn’t. The result is noticeably different. The same sun melts and hardens.

The wise of the world tell us we are all victims of chance, no more. But God’s enlightened elect reject the foolishness of this wisdom. We are not creatures of fate, but of faith. God rules in every area of our lives. He has a predestined plan for each of us. Some saints, I find, have a problem with the negative side of predestination, but none with the positive, as in Romans eight, twenty-eight.

Sometimes, during those seemingly senseless and unexplained trials, the head has no answer other than that there is simply no rhyme nor reason to it. But as Pascal says, “The heart has reason of which the mind knows nothing of.” May it suffice each suffering saint to know that on the flip-side of every dark and wearisome cloud, there is a silver lining. Darkness always gives way to light!

Intercessors

Intercessory Prayer

“I have prayed for thee.”

When Christ told Peter He would pray for him in his temptation, our Lord was more than familiar with Satan’s depth of deception. Our Saviour could truly say with the prophet of old, “I sat where they sat.” He knew the darkness awaiting his beloved follower. The writer of Hebrews tells us Jesus was tempted in all points of life, as we are. I think the sweetest words to come out of a saint’s mouth is a sincere, “I am praying for you.”

Intercessory prayer is no doubt the highest form of prayer. On the positive side, it is bringing another with you to the Mercy Seat, seeking their welfare. The first mention is Abraham praying for Abimelech. The Bible is replete with such cases as: Moses, Samuel, Elisha, Daniel, Stephen, Paul, Epaphras, etc; the greatest being our Lord. He’s been actively engaged in this type of ministry for over 2000 years now! This then is a Christ-like characteristic.

I was thinking, intercessory prayer is a sure cure-all for Christian narcissism. Could it be if we took more interest in others' needs God might just take more interest in ours? For years now, I've had what I call, “The Golden Rule of Prayer.” That is, as I would have others pray for me and mine, even so should I do . With what fervor, earnestness, agony, do we pray when all seems hopeless for us and ours? We need to return to travailing in prayer for others till we hear the cry of life.

“Ye also helping together by prayer for us.”  

Swords

Swords in the Saint's Life

“Who through faith…escaped the edge of the sword…And others…were slain with the sword.” The latter in our text had the same faith as the former, yet, while the one escapes the pain and unpleasantries of life, the “others” endure them.

David escaped Goliath’s sword, but eighty-five of God’s innocent priests were slain with Doeg’s sword. And what of James, who was slain by the sword at Herod’s command? Yet, his dear, long-time friend, Peter, escaped the same tyrant’s blade.

There is no answer to this dilemma, other than God’s individual plan for each life. I think Matthew Henry’s statement is pertinent here. He writes, “The swords of men are held in the hand of God.” We must learn to look past the human instrument to the Sovereign Hand that controls it. This way, we can always be assured that though they might have thought it for evil, God meant it for our good.

“God, be thou exalted, and, if need be, do it at my expense.” (A.W. Tozer)

Saved But Not Satisfied

A preacher friend of mine used to say, when asked how he was, “Saved, sanctified, and satisfied.” I’m afraid if many of us were asked this, we’d have to leave off the last word, if truthful. God’s people today appear to be insatiable—nothing seems to satisfy them, whether in the physical or spiritual realm.

Many of our churches put on a great show, but not to the satisfying of the soul. Preachers lay out decorative china, but nothing nutritious is on the plate. We have showy menus, but, as the old Westerners used to say, there is nothing that will “stick to your ribs.”

God tells us through Jeremiah, “My people shall be satisfied with my goodness.” We sing, “Thou, O Christ, art all I want”; but we sing a lie! It looks to me like there are few in number who finds real satisfaction in Him and in Him alone. They cannot honestly say, “Thou art my…portion in the land of the living.” “And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.”

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger”…If a Christian is not satisfied with Jesus, then nothing else can or will satisfy him or her.

Leaving the Party Early

Such-and-Such Things

“And he [the angel] said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he [Jacob] said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me...And he blessed him there.” The main problem with God’s children today is that we are too easily satisfied. Our contentment with having less of God than He intended is contemptible. It is always too soon to quit when seeking God’s fullness. But in this area we once again prove “all have…come short of the glory of God.”

There is more to be had than the initial appetizer and small salad that follows. Most do not hang around for the main course; and few there are who stay for the delicious dessert. God serves His courses in order and in perfect timing. I’m sure most of us would have left the party early had we been with Jacob that memorable night. But by hanging out till the breaking of the day, he found his Host to be more than gracious.

Had David not given-in so soon, God said, “I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.”

A Word to the Wise-Fools Never Get It

The Choice of Two Evils

When you have the choice of the lesser of two evils, you choose neither! Like David of old when Gad presented him with choices, none of which would profit him, he left it up to God to choose, trusting in His mercy.

Just because a good ornament is hung upon the lesser evil does not remove its bad root. It doesn’t make the second choice any more respectable. Putting cosmetic on an external cancer doesn’t make it less dangerous than that of an internal one.

“This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.” I trust my readers are wise enough to understand what I’ve said. I believe it is called in our day, “tongue in cheek."

Knocking Out the Props

Nothing to Lean On-But God Himself

It’s a fearful thing when God slowly, but surely, begins removing various supports that we have put our confidence in; things that are substitutes for our trust in Him. But surprise of all surprises, once these human props are eliminated, we find our faith flourishes.

We discover faith thrives best in the midst of difficulties. But to realize this we must first be “…shut up unto the faith.” That is, left with no way out but faith itself. When all the safety-nets are taken away. There’s always a calculated risk attached to faith! But God works best “…when all hope [is] taken away.”

We’re told our father Abraham, “Considered not,” that is, he did not consider the human impossibilities; neither in his situation or Sarah’s. Faith makes the impossible possible! We must learn to turn our eyes upon God and from anything or anybody that would invade that faith.

God will never betray the one who trusts in Him!

Timing is Everything

God’s Timing

Not only is our Sovereign the God of eternity, but He is the Lord of time. He controls every aspect of it. He can make it stand still, go backward, or run it ahead. But He is distinctively the God of the present. And why is this? I think C.S. Lewis put it best when he said, “Where, except in the present, can the Eternal be met.” Therefore, as they say, “There is no time like the present.”

We must be cautious that we do not mistake a seemingly right situation for the right time. Take Simon Peter’s case for example. The Lord had told him how he would die (John 21:18-19). And in Acts 12:3-6 the circumstances would lead one to think this was the time his Lord had spoken to him about. But though the situation was right, the timing was wrong, for this memorable event could not come to pass until, as Jesus had said, “…when thou shalt be old.”

It is not the circumstances, but timing, that counts. Let us keep our eyes on God’s clock and not on the conditions. If we do, we, like Peter, will sleep better.

“My times are in thy hand.”

Spiritual Anemia

Back to the Blood

“life...is in the Blood”

Driving to the store recently with my wife, we were listening to a Christian radio station. One of the songs played was, “There is Power in the Blood,” It brought back sweet and precious memories. I turned to Salle and said, “I sure miss hearing those blessed old songs on the Blood.” May God help His children and churches to get back to the Blood.

Our pale and lethargic spiritual lives can be, I believe, traced back directly to the lack of the Blood of Christ in our own. Just as with our physical blood, there will never be a day when we can live without His Blood applied to ours. Healthy, robust Christians make much of the blood of Jesus. To those who think otherwise, God’s Word says, “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain.”  The Veil is shut to Bloodless comers.

“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.”

Humanities Great Hatred

The World's Hatred of God and His Son

“...now have they...hated both me and my Father”

(John 15:24)

God loved the world and gave His only Son for it; this world in return hates God and rejects His Beloved Son. As they go their merry way thinking of this as being only a trifle in life, they do not realize the horribleness that awaits them at the end of walking the broad way. The old song, The Great Judgement Morning, that has been muted in most pulpits today, gives a miniature picture of what awaits them.

“And, oh, what a weeping and wailing,

As the lost were told of their fate;

They cried for the rocks and the mountains,

They prayed, but their prayer was too late.”

Read Psalm two if you want to see the fundamental cause for the creature turning on his or her Creator. It has to do with rule and restraint. No Sovereign Monarch, even if Divine, has the right to tie them down in any area of their lives, say they. If He attempts to, they will simply snap the cords as Samson of old, did his. What is an intolerable yoke for the world's rebels, is an easy yoke for God’s submissive children!

Both the leaders and people of this insurgency have only one choice and chance for pardon, to lay down your arms, and as the custom of conquered foes of old, to kiss the hand (in this case nail-scarred) of the KING. If not, you can be sure God will get the last laugh. (Prov.1)

A warning to professed Christians. If you’re running with this God-hating world; you’re running with the wrong herd.

“Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

Not So Bad-Not So Good

Cold Christians

"I would thou wert cold or hot…thou art lukewarm, and neither cold or hot.” God is an extremist, at times. In the case of His people's zeal, it’s to be one way or the other, no middle ground. He prefers a state of coldness over one of lukewarm-ness. To Him, anything is better than that condition. In our day, we criticize coldness and accept lukewarm-ness. But it is the latter that nauseates God. Tepid Christians are the ones who sicken Him.

My dear, departed friend, Marvin Clanton, was so misunderstood when he used to say, “God says it’s alright for you to be cold.” What the blind brethren did not understand is that this is what our text says. A cold Christian is more honorable in character than a lukewarm one. Though he is in a sad state, nevertheless, he’s honest. There’s no disguise, concealment, or pretense with him.

God can do something for an honest man, no matter what his condition; but there is no remedy for a self-deceived, self-conceited one.

“My best members today would have been considered backsliders twenty-five years ago.”

( By the late James Barnes, a friend)

The Same Cloth

Folks Like Us

“We also are men of like passions with you”

“Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are”

Neither Barnabas, Saul, or Elias would allow anyone to think of them as any different from the common man. Nor would any other Spirit-Filled saint found in the Holy Scriptures. They knew they were cut from the same piece of soiled cloth as any other man or woman. Most certainly, they were well aware they belonged to God, but just as conscious they were human; thus living within the boundaries of humanity.

Life comes with its downs and ups (we always end right-side- up), as David reminds us. It comes equipped with its valleys as well as its mountains. Bible Christians were not always on a spiritual high. I like the way one writer puts it, “They did not attempt to use God as a giant tranquilizer to obliterate their difficulties. Neither did they scoff at nor condemn as ‘unspiritual’ those who were hurting.”

You can hide your head in the sand, so to speak, refusing to acknowledge your brethren who are presently having a tough time of it. But know this, at some point in this life, every saint will experience Ecc.2:14, if you please, “walking the floor of hell.” It’s good to remember at such times the three Hebrew children. While walking in the fire they discovered the “Fourth MAN.” You can read of Him in Revelation chapter one.

“And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.”

The Courthouse Drama

Faith On Trial

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Biblical faith has never won in the world’s court of popular opinion. Can you imagine, when questioned, the answer the judge and jury  would hear from the witness? That is, to its basic substance and evidential proof? Remember, it is a judicial system whose philosophy is seeing is believing.  You know, “Come down [now] from the cross, and we will believe.”

“Well sir,” says the confident witness, “My substance is hope.” When asked to define what this hope entails, there is snickering in the courtroom; then all-out laughter when the answer is given. “My hope is not seen...as yet! For hope that is seen is not hope.” “Concerning my evidence, it too is not seen...yet” This time, uncontrolled pandemonium breaks out.

A foolish faith says the world. Yes. But the WORD says, one that pleases God. Paul, that little man with a giant of a soul within, tells us, “He walked by faith, and not by sight.”  In contrast, Thomas said, “Except I shall see...I will not believe.“ Oswald Sanders writes, “A faith that does not walk may soon become too weak to stand.” Blind faith eventually sees. Ask Paul (Acts 9).

A Lesson On Boiling Water

Just Forget It

“A watched pot never boils.” Ask any of us impatient men, and we will attest to this little cliché. How many times have I put the kettle on to boil water for a cup of coffee, and it seemed it was going to be the next day before it bubbled? On the other hand, a woman puts a pot on the burner, goes about other business, and, presto! the water is boiling.

So what is the cause of the male’s downfall? Simple. We spend our time standing around watching and waiting for results, while the ladies don’t worry about it. They busy themselves doing other things, while the process is going on. What seems like eternity to us doesn’t even flutter them.

And so it is in the spiritual life. Those who do nothing but stand around checking their spiritual growth will find that’s the sure way to stunt growth. The best way to grow is to forget it. Don’t lose any sleep over it (Mk.4:26-28). Get busy about other things and people, and it will surprise you how fast you will sprout up. Unconscious growth is the best kind.

Ultimate Christianity

“Tried with fire.” Was Peter thinking of his forefathers in the book of Daniel when he penned these words? Possibly so. You remember those three brave believers would not bow to the intimidating threats of the hierarchy, though it meant being put into the fires. Their answer to the King is the ultimate Christian testimony: “Our God...is able to deliver us...and he will deliver us...But if not...” A general consensus—God is able; an individual trust—God will; a personal acceptance—if God doesn’t.

You can’t stop a person armed with this philosophy. These three Jewish saints are undoubtedly the ones referred to in Hebrews eleven, where we are told, “and others...not accepting deliverance.” They knew it was just as great, if not greater, to be delivered in the fire, as it was out of the fire. Maybe they were trusting the promise of Isaiah, “When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

There is a double blessing to be found in the fire. They had a Divine Companion Who entered with them, and they had a glorious liberty. Both fellowship and freedom are found in the midst of the flame.

Amy Carmichael tells the following precious story. “One day we took the children to see a goldsmith refine gold after the ancient manner of the East. He was sitting beside his little charcoal fire. ("He shall sit as a refiner"; the gold- or silversmith never leaves his crucible once it is on the fire.) In the red glow lay a common curved roof tile; another tile covered it like a lid. This was the crucible. In it was the medicine made of salt, tamarind fruit and burnt brick dust, and imbedded in it was the gold. The medicine does its appointed work on the gold, "then the fire eats it," and the goldsmith lifts the gold out with a pair of tongs, lets it cool, rubs it between his fingers, and if not satisfied puts it back again in fresh medicine. This time he blows the fire hotter than it was before, and each time he puts the gold into the crucible, the heat of the fire is increased; "it could not bear it so hot at first, but it can bear it now; what would have destroyed it then helps it now." "How do you know when the gold is purified?" we asked him, and he answered, "When I can see my face in it [the liquid gold in the crucible] then it is pure.”