Slashing or Soothing?

At age 16, I knew that the Lord was inviting me to serve Him in pastoral ministry. My calling was clear but I was full of reasons why I shouldn’t, couldn’t take up that way of life. A veteran pastor who was visiting took time to listen to my heart, assuring me that nobody was good enough, smart enough to be “God’s man.”  He told me that God would guide, keep, and strengthen. I wonder if I would be a pastor today without that conversation?  16 years later, after a terrible year of failure that left me broken, another respected leader took time to sit with me and to remind me that God was not finished with me yet. What a blessed use of words to encourage and build up. 

Yes, I have also experienced those conversations where words were used like a knife, cutting deep. Cruel and calculated to inflict maximum harm, those words bloodied my heart.  I stumbled onto an email a few days ago that was beyond honest, with words that slashed at my motives and character and even though it was an old one, it was hard to ‘hear’ those words.

To be authentic, I must acknowledge that my words are not always positive, loving, or encouraging – Help me, Lord!

James challenges us to remember the power of our words. He writes: "A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can’t go on." (James 3:5-10, The Message).

Our tongues are wild, untamed things. Changing what we say on our own is impossible. Why? Because our words flow out of the wells of our heart. Our deepest values and most private thoughts will eventually bubble to the surface if we babble on long enough. No one can make his heart new by his own efforts. If we are self-absorbed, insecure, mean, profane, or filthy-minded; it will always show up in our conversations.

That is why we need Jesus!

He is a heart specialist. When His grace and love full into us and when we cultivate a day to day intimacy with the Holy Spirit, we are changed- from the inside out! I love the down-home illustration that our Lord used to make this point. “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is idea identified by the kind of fruit it produces. Figs never grow on thornbushes or grapes on bramble bushes. A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” (Luke 6:43-45, NLT) What fruit will others pick from your conversations today?

Listen to your words.
Do they deal death or bring life?
Do they encourage or take away hope?
If you need to be honest about another's sin or failings, (and we must be truthful) are you careful to be gentle, correcting with the desire to restore; or does your harshness crush the soul?

Need to tame that tongue?  James says that YOU CAN’T but the Spirit can.  Any filter we try to put in place will fail. The source must be changed. So, get with Jesus and pray for a changed heart. Ask Him to wash out bitterness, envy, cynicism, unforgiveness, even hatred - replacing those evil fruits with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and good. Use that gift of speech to bless others and to cause those around you to thank God for His grace, expressed through YOU!

The word from the Word is a prayer … mine and I hope yours, too.  "How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. … May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." (Psalm 19:12, 14, NLT)

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Ancient Words

Holy words long preserved

For our walk in this world

They resound with God's own heart

O let the ancient words impart

Words of life words of hope

Give us strength help us cope

In this world where'er we roam

Ancient words will guide us home

Ancient words ever true

Changing me changing you

We have come with open hearts

O let the ancient words impart

Holy words of our faith

Handed down to this age

Came to us through sacrifice

O heed the faithful words of Christ

Martyr's blood stains each page

They have died for this faith

Hear them cry through the years

Heed these words and hold them dear

We have come with open hearts

O let the ancient words impart

O let the ancient words impart

Lynn DeShazo

© 2001 Integrity's Hosanna! Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (Integrity Music [DC Cook]))

CCLI License # 810055

A Tested and Tried Faith

“How are you?”  That is a common question for which we seldom expect any but a polite answer; “Fine. And you?”  When we are conversing with a close friend or someone we know is going through tough times and we ask, “How are you?” we wait for a real response, expecting to listen and help to carry the weight.  That kind of conversation gives that other person an opportunity to unpack their emotions, to sort through their thoughts. What many of us fail to realize is the importance of asking ourselves the question – “How am I doing?” 

Self-reflection can be a difficult thing to do, especially in our fast-paced world and with all of the diversions that technology offers us. We need to take time to consciously think about the state of our mind and heart, to ask if our actions are consistent with the values we profess, to remember where we need to do some maintenance on our vital relationships.  We can easily become adrift in life, pushed here and there by the expectations of others, becoming slaves of our appetites, failing to make choices that bring about the best ends.

Then, too, in the middle of it all, clear understanding may elude us. Phone calls, deadlines, crying kids, emails, and such things can make us deaf to the cry of our soul for purpose. So, we must make time to ask – “how am I doing?” and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the why behind the what in life. Kierkegaard  offers this - “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”  Simply said,  without times of reflection and correction, we can drift far from our intended course, losing sight of the important as we are pressed by the urgent things in life.

Paul reminds us that our Christianity needs times of self- reflection. "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?" (2 Corinthians 13:5, NIV)

How do we examine ourselves?

We look for choices made that align with our professed faith in Christ.

If we are His disciple, if He lives in us, we will see evidence of Him; love for others, joyful purpose in life, peace in the middle of crisis, trust in times of storms. Christians live with an active hope of eternal life, and their lives are guided by their expectation of a heavenly home.

We look for progress over time in maturity in godly living.

If we are still getting drunk every Friday, if we are still hating our neighbors, if we are still trying to find happiness in pleasure and things in the same way we were before we came to Christ, we should conclude that we need a course correction, real changes made in our pursuit of the Lord.  Those who are maturing in Christ love the things of God, men and women who are deep pools of refreshment for the world in which they live.

We look for healthy emotions in ourselves.  

Those who live in Christ are steady, able to trust Him equally in sorrow and joy. If we are in constant conflict, if we cannot settle to follow Him, if we are fervent in ‘faith’ today and apathetic the next – the evidence is that our faith needs to grow.

We look for strong and authentic relationships with other Christians.

If we are avoiding being around people of true faith there is a red flag of caution. Those who are ‘in Christ’ will find encouragement within the family of faith.

Yes, times of examination are critically important.  We need moments that allow us to reset, correction, and refocus.  We need ‘interruptions’ that break the incessant demands of daily life. Built into the Christian faith is a Holy Meal, a moment when we go back to the basics – His blood that restores us to our Father’s love; His body that was broken so that we could be made whole. One of the essential parts of that time of Communion is confession.  Paul says "Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe. " (1 Corinthians 11:28, The Message)  

How am I doing?  It’s not a question to be avoided. It can be a moment of growth!

Today’s word from the Word challenges us to give ourselves to the examination of the Truth. "Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." (Hebrews 4:11-13, NIV)
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Abba, keep me on course, my heart and mind aligned to Your will.

Help me to pursue You with my whole heart.

Protect me from slipping into empty prayers and meaningless words,

Thinking somehow that those things can replace true devotion.

Test me. Reveal the secret things of my heart to me so that I will follow You.

In Jesus’ Name.

Amen

Purpose in that Pain

Last Wednesday, in a second, things changed.  I slipped, badly wrenched my knee (still waiting MRI to know extent of damage), and became ‘weak.’  Every step hurts. Simple things like going from standing to sitting require deliberate thought. Getting in and out of the car is complicated as I gently tuck my leg in without bending the knee any more than I have to.  Like most people, it’s not easy to ask for help so I try to do things and find myself either hurting or frustrated. I forgot what a blessing it is to walk quickly, to take steps without pauses, to be without pain. This knee will heal soon and I will return to ‘normal’ but will the experience cause me to be more thankful and make me more patient with those who don’t ‘get better?’

This experience has made me think about the gradual losses that come with aging and caused me to face up to one of my own fears – that I will someday be dependent on others.  Honestly, I am not at peace with either of those things just yet.  I do pray that the Lord will give me faith and love so that as one strength fades another will grow – that even as ‘weakness’ increases there will be a corresponding growth of spiritual beauty that makes me a blessing in my world instead of a bitter or cynical old man.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul responded to the boasts of the ‘super-apostles’ that told that church he was a failure, unimpressive, and unworthy of respect.  He boasts (his word, not mine) about his many visions, revelations, and trials endured for the Lord’s sake. He knew the power of the Spirit, had sacrificed safety and comfort in radical ways, and knew the supernatural call of God to ministry.  

All of that was fertile soil in which spiritual pride and elitism might have grown except for yet another fact that he reveals. “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:7-10, NIV)

God knows that we are at our best when we know our dependence on His grace and the power of the Spirit. Sounds great as we read it, doesn’t it? But, in real life we resist pain and we do just about anything to own ourselves and create a place of security, don’t we?  I am praying for healing of my busted knee and at the same time I am asking the Lord to use this time to shape me a bit more into the image of Jesus.  I don’t like pain but I know it can serve a purpose if I put it in the hands of God and let Him use it for my good.

How about you? Are you cursing some hardship in your life, angry at some continual source of pain, demanding that things get easier?

Make a better choice! Take that thing to the Lord in prayer and trust Him with it.  Tell Him that you will walk with a limp for the rest of your life if it makes you more useful in His purposes. Some will read that as a lack of faith! They will insist that suffering has no place in the life of a Spirit-filled disciple, that we should pray away every problem. Not so. The greater faith lets the Sovereign God choose the path and takes His grace for the day.

Jacob, the patriarch of the Old Testament, was a conniving schemer, a man who was smart and got his own way.  Where did it lead him? To exile from his family, to a place far from where God promised. But, the Lord did not abandon him.  Years after he stole his brother’s birthright and alienated himself from his father, he decided to go home.  On the way, he met a Person who “wrestled with him until daybreak" (Genesis 32:22-24).  The struggle went through the night to the dawn. Jacob was defeated when the Man “touched the socket of his thigh, so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him” (v.25).  At that moment, Jacob seemed to grasp that his encounter was with God and he prayed,  “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (v.26) 

He left that encounter with a limp and a changed name. Names reveal God’s purposes in the Old Testament. Jacob, which meant ‘Deceiver,’ became Israel, which means ‘wrestles with God.’ He was not useful to the Lord until he was broken and submitted to Him.  What a powerful lesson for us.

Meditate on the passage I quoted a moment ago. Take the word from the Word and pray that God will make you strong in Him. "Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:7-10, NLT)

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Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)
(a beautiful worship song that invites us to trust God)

You call me out upon the waters

The great unknown where feet may fail

And there I find You in the mystery

In oceans deep my faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name

And keep my eyes above the waves

When oceans rise

My soul will rest in Your embrace

For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters

Your sov'reign hand will be my guide

Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me

You've never failed and You won't start now

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders

Let me walk upon the waters

Wherever You would call me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger

In the presence of my Saviour

I will call upon Your name

Keep my eyes above the waves

My soul will rest in Your embrace

I am Yours and You are mine

Joel Houston | Matt Crocker | Salomon Ligthelm

© 2012 Hillsong Music Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055