Success Literature

 

Barnes and Noble has whole sections filled with books that propose schemes to create success and prosperity. You can buy advice on raising children, building a better marriage, investing … well, just about any subject. There is even a self-help, success industry that caters to pastors. Yesterday, I sat through an hour-long webinar in which a pastor laid out his program for growing a larger church! He promised that if I bought his books and manuals, I could do what he has done in his city. I  was not convinced that the Holy Spirit wants me to become a clone of that man. It was an hour I could have spent more productively in prayer!  Some of this kind of material is better than others, isn’t it? Years ago, I read Stephen Covey’s book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I still pull it off the shelf and review the wisdom found in his work.

There is one Book that shows us how to enjoy a life of peace, how to live with significance, and how to find our purpose. ".. The holy Scriptures …  have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do." (2 Timothy 3:15-17, NLT)  That’s not the kind of hyperbole one often finds on the back of the latest self-help book!  In the Word we find the way to our Father, correction of our faults, and the way to whole and holy lives.

When he knew that his time of leadership was coming to a close, Moses called the leaders of Israel together and shared what the Lord told him to say.  As you read this lengthy passage, prayerfully ask the Lord for grace to live the principles He teaches so that you can enjoy the promises.  You will be tempted to argue with the text asking, “But, what about…?”  Please do not take that course. Instead, receive this Word with faith and let the Spirit make it a living text for you.  Let’s go.

“If you fully obey the Lord your God by keeping all the commands I am giving you today, the Lord your God will exalt you above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in your towns and in the country. You will be blessed with many children and productive fields. You will be blessed with fertile herds and flocks. You will be blessed with baskets overflowing with fruit, and with kneading bowls filled with bread. You will be blessed wherever you go, both in coming and in going. “The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!

“The Lord will bless everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he solemnly promised to do. Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you. “The Lord will give you an abundance of good things in the land he swore to give your ancestors—many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops. The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens to bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them. If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God and carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always have the upper hand. You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today to follow after other gods and worship them." (Deuteronomy 28:1-14, NLT)

Wow! Isn’t that an amazingly rich passage?  We are His people.  When we live in humble submission to Him, accepting His gracious offer of life, He is honored.  "All the peoples on Earth will see you living under the Name of God and hold you in respectful awe. " (Deuteronomy 28:10, The Message)   

Heavenly Father, help me to live in obedience,

Filled with faith,

So that Your blessings can flow through me

To this world.

May my thoughts, words, and actions

Cause others to turn to You and

Give You praise.

In Jesus’ holy Name, I pray.

Amen

Who cares? What's the big deal?

As we debate the way our society will be ordered we tend to draw most of our arguments from respect for individual rights and enhancement of personal happiness. Though we do not often say it so clearly, we are guided by the old cliché – if it feels good, do it.  Joe (not his real name) excused his affair with his assistant by saying to me, “Who cares? What’s the big deal? ”  I find too much of that line of thinking today. As much as I admire being tolerant and despise self-righteous intrusion into the lives of others, I cannot trivialize the choices I make or those made by others.  How we live as individuals does matter far beyond ourselves!  Joe’s choice blew up his family.  There are real consequences that include emotional distress for his ex-wife and his children as well as economic issues that are ongoing. His once vibrant spiritual life is but a shadow of what it once was. Only God knows, literally, what the long-term effects of his sin will be in the next decade.

As an example of consequence let’s look at attitudes about sexual behavior. Constraints on pre-marital sex are almost completely rejected by Americans today. That ‘liberation’ has come with real consequence. The New York Times (not exactly a stalwart of Biblical thought) reports that in 2009, 53% of the children born in the United States to women under age 30, were born outside of marriage. That same article continues – “Bearing children outside of wedlock is a trend that’s most strongly affecting young adults who are already at an economic disadvantage, and that means that its impact is deeply tangled within a host of other problems, from the decline in blue-collar jobs to the difficulty of finding affordable child care.” (http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/for-younger-mothers-out-of-wedlock-births-are-the-new-normal/)  In addition, these children, especially boys, grow up with a predictable risk of failing in school and getting involved with criminal activity as teens. Girls from that situation have a much greater likelihood of becoming pregnant as teens.  So, what we might smile at as ‘just a little sex,’ mushrooms into a major issue with real costs in terms of social stability, national prosperity, and individual hope!

When we read the Scripture’s revelation of God’s order for our lives, we are wise if we remember that He gives us these commands for our good.  Moses handed down the law of God.  It included respect for life, property, and the Lord.  It called for personal responsibility and restraint of impulses towards greed and promiscuity.  It demanded a wholehearted love of God. Why?
"Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between prosperity and disaster, between life and death. I have commanded you today to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, laws, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and become a great nation, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live!" (Deuteronomy 30:15-19, NLT)

Through Christ, we are forgiven our failures to live as our Father demands, and by the Holy Spirit we are empowered to make choices that honor Him.   What we should never forget, though we often do, it that ultimately our choices will be evaluated by the Judge who sees all and accepts no excuses.  We will  “all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:10, NIV) For the Christian this judgment is described as a fire that tests the way we build our lives on the Rock-solid foundation. "Now anyone who builds on that foundation may use gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But there is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone’s work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value." (1 Corinthians 3:12-13, NLT)

Yes, what we do today does matter. Our choices have consequences for time and eternity.  May this sobering truth move us to pray for wisdom to make the best decisions that honor the One who loves us. 

Here is the word from the Word. "Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,” says the LORD. This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." (Jeremiah 6:15-16, NIV)

Discipline isn't much fun!

"Let's take a walk this evening," is an unwelcomed invitation to me, much like "how about getting a flu shot?" I know that the exercise would be beneficial to my health but in this one area I simply refuse to do the hard thing. My aversion to perspiration has nothing to do with inability. It is not a 'cannot,' it is a 'will not.' Every time that I choose not to take that walk with my lovely wife, it is a little easier to say, "No," the next time. A couple of Summers ago, when I made myself get up and go with her, each evening it became easier. I actually found that my physical condition improved to the point that I did not huff and puff on the hills! I think I remember that I enjoyed it, too.

A disciplined life has many rewards.

• A person who knows how to budget and control spending, actually finds himself with more discretionary funds! Instead of always paying off his credit cards (and the awful interest that goes with them) he is able to make more choices including more generosity.
• A person who regularly prays - both in good seasons as well as when tragedy lurks - enjoys the benefit of current conversation with God and the comfort of meeting a true Friend.
• A person who makes participation at his local church a priority even when the sun shines on the golf course builds a reservoir of relationships that pays great dividends when life hits reverse (and it will, sooner or later).

Real disciples must be willing to hard things. Jesus says things like: "Forgive those who do you wrong! Love your enemies! Practice your generosity without telling anybody. Live for Heaven, not just for your next meal. Deal with your own sin before you try to deal with that of others. Follow me!"  Other passages teach us to "Keep a tight rein on your words. Don't use filthy speech. Trust God when it's dark. Endure hardship. Give thanks always."  It is even possible to live like that? The Christian who is filled with Spirit, can answer, "Yes!"  Refusing to do what God says is not about 'can.'  It is about 'will.'  In Christ we are liberated from compulsion to sin. The Spirit frees us to choose life.

Here's a direct question. Pause to answer it honestly.

Will you do hard things that will let you become a holy, beautiful Christ-follower?

We cannot save ourselves from sin however after Christ's intervention, He has handed us a big responsibility to exert our will in the direction of godliness. Most of us have some 'will nots' in our lives. There are things we do not do because we believe that they are difficult or unpleasant. James does not spare our feelings with regard to refusal to do God's hard things. He says that "Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." (James 4:17, NIV)

Let these words urge you on when you find yourself wanting to refuse God's invitation to do the hard things.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. (think Olympics!) They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." (1 Corinthians 9:24-25, NIV)

"We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God."

(Hebrews 12:9-11, The Message)

May the Lord bless your day with good things, with joy, and with the peace of God!

Too Cool For The Gospel?

Bev and I watched Courageous last night. It's the latest release by Sherwood Films, a Christian company that makes movies with a message. It is not sophisticated film-making. The message is not subtly woven into a complex plot. In another time in my life, I most likely would not have watched it, or if I did, would have found the straightforward method of presentation too simple for appreciation. No more! I cheered the heroes, empathized with those in difficult circumstances, and felt inspired by hope. The producers met their goal - to share the Gospel of Christ and to challenge fathers to be real Dads.

Do we  clutter up the Message of the love of God with our pretensions?

Do we rob the Gospel of the power to change us by trying too hard to be 'relevant to our culture?'

Do we think we need to improve on God's Story?

Don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting that life lacks complexity. I am not ignoring the huge questions that cause us to struggle in faith. Christians must not duck behind "Jesus loves me, this I know, 'cause the Bible told me so," to avoid issues of justice or applied grace. Mature faith confronts entrenched evil. The resulting conflict demands much from us - in both heart and mind. And yet- it all comes back to one Fact: "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8, NIV) Jesus says that this fact calls for two basic responses from us all: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31, NIV) No matter how long a person has been a Christian, it all comes back to accepting God's grace by faith and to responding with authentic love.

Ponder these words. "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." (1 Corinthians 2:2-5, NKJV) Paul reflects on his ministry and reveals his dedication to the simplicity of the Gospel. My prayer is that we will renew our own love of the Truth and let the Story continue to change and challenge us.

A woman who is struggling to make a huge moral decision in her life came to me to talk over the options. "What can I do?" she asked me through sincere tears. Every apparent course of action looks too hard, demands too much of her. I recognized her dilemma and agreed that there was no easy way to marry obedience to God's Word with her desire for personal happiness. But, then I pointed her back to the Cross and to the love of the Father. "Until you are secure in His love, until you have settled yourself in faith in Christ, you cannot know the peace and power of the Spirit that can make obedience to His will a joy," I told her. It is true for all of us. If we become so sophisticated that we fail to lay the foundation of faith in Christ's power to save from sin, we cannot know the true joy of the Spirit-filled Christian life.

Don't let yourself become too cool for the Gospel. Here's the word from the Word. Meditate on it.

"For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes-Jews first and also Gentiles. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life." (Romans 1:16-17, NLT)

"I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you-guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us." (2 Timothy 1:12-14, NIV)

Will that seed produce a harvest?

Eleven men visited our church yesterday.  Each had been an addict, a slave to a life that brought them to the bottom. Their lives were a garbage heap of wrecked relationships, broken bodies, and empty hearts.  In their darkest night, the Light broke through and, in faith, they took the offer of new life and began a process of transformation.  As they sang of God’s “Amazing Grace,” I was filled up with joy.  When Rob told his story of addiction and the awful cost – living under a bridge, stealing, hopelessness – and then of the moment when Christ’s love began his restoration; I wanted to yell “thank You, Lord!”  My elation was tempered by the knowledge that Rob is just 39 days old in this new life!  By the Spirit, he will  become a person free and whole, and remain that way for the rest of his life if he makes the choice of faith today, tomorrow, the day after that – and every day for the rest of his life.

Jesus told a simple story about seeds and planting.  Not all the seed produced a harvest. Some never took root, falling onto hard ground. Some took root, but quickly died under the withering heat of the day. Some even grew for a time, but left uncultivated, died when overtaken by the weeds. Some produced a great harvest.  He told us the meaning of the story. “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." (Luke 8:11-15, NIV)

Those men yesterday who are relatively young in the Lord, and the man writing these words who has walked this road for 4 decades, have a choice to make today. Will we continue to trust the saving grace of Christ, focused on His ability to save me or will we turn away?  No, we cannot save ourselves from the World, the Flesh, or the Devil! But, we have to continue to gaze upon the Cross, humbly and faithfully accepting the strength for this day to live by the Spirit.  Our perfection is fully realized in Christ; yet, at the same time, is being worked out in us as we hold onto Him in faith, with hope.   I love the promise that as we look on Him we are “being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV)  He causes us to shine brighter and brighter with a radiance that comes, not from our religion or self-actualization, but from His Spirit occupying ever greater parts of our hearts and minds!  Hallelujah, what a Savior. 

Rob, you’re not home yet so keep looking to Jesus. Jerry, you’re not there yet either so fix your gaze on Christ anew.  Reader, He is sufficient to save. Will you trust Him with your fears, failures, sins, and successes?

Here’s a word from the Word. Meditate on it. Receive the Truth and go steady on, from faith to faith. "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, (complete or whole)  but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (Philippians 3:10-12, NIV)  "Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!" (Philippians 3:20-4:1, NIV)

Purify my heart

Let me be as gold

And precious silver

Purify my heart

Let me be as gold

Pure gold

Purify my heart

Cleanse me from within

And make me holy

Purify my heart

Cleanse me from my sin

Deep within

Refiner's fire

My heart's one desire

Is to be holy

Set apart for You Lord

I choose to be holy

Set apart for You my Master

Ready to do Your will

Refiner's Fire

Brian Doerksen

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