Worry = ?

 
Recently someone said that it is normal to worry because we are human and God gave us our human nature. That surprised me. This person knows the Word of God so I responded with: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6)

While that verse tells us not to worry, I’m thinking about the bigger picture. God did create us with our human nature, yet made in His image. However, at the evil suggestions of Satan in snake disguise, disobedience to God (sin) marred that nature. Since that first sin, all are born with a sin nature and fall short of the glory of God. The NT makes it clear that no one is able to live as God intended. Our spirits are separated from Him. The NT uses the term ‘dead in sin.’ 

God’s redemption plan began immediately with a promise to send a Redeemer. He did. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s solution to the sin problem that ruined our human nature.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

Jesus traded His perfect righteousness and took our sin, paying its penalty by dying for us and giving us a new nature. This is not about behavior change. We are forgiven, clean before God, and given a new nature, our spirits made alive to God.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

With a new nature, comes the ability to live a new way. Instead of listening to the world’s way of thinking, or that old nature with its desire to rule, or to the lies of Satan, God gives us the ability to listen to Him and do what He says. That means we need not worry about anything.

However, that old nature is stubborn. Even though it is dead to God, Christians who listen to it instead of the Lord, allow those ‘I wants’ to govern rather than trusting the Lord. We even ask God for things we want without asking for what He wants and then, when no answers come, we start to worry…

Worry has many synonyms. It is giving way to anxiety or unease; allowing one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. It is also fretting, being concerned, agonizing, brooding, feeling panic, losing sleep, getting worked up and in a fluster, overwrought, stressed, torturing oneself, being perturbed, bothered, unsettled, harassed, feeling nerve-racked, upset, traumatized, grave, afraid, and so on. None of these are what God gives us through His Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–23)

The Bible does not include worry as part of a God-directed life because it is not only harmful to us, it hides an important truth. Worry opposes faith and self-effort takes the place of praying. Worry is not believing God will answer our prayers with wisdom and grace but a wasted effort concerning what we want without relying on God. Instead of resting in Him, worry produces such things as lack of sleep, ulcers or headaches.

God knows that if we are united with Him in our inner being, we will certainly do right outwardly. At the same time, He gives much instruction of what comes from flesh, and what is the result of hearing and obeying the Spirit. Worry and anxiety are activities of that old sinful nature while trusting God is enabled by His Spirit. I need to cooperate by recognizing and denying that old nature, and refusing to walk in it. This means being in the Word and obeying it. As some quip, why pray when I can worry?

The Galatian Christians lost sight of how the “new creature” was the only thing that helped them grow in grace. They began with faith but had “fallen from grace” because they chose the “oldness of the letter” to replace “newness of the spirit.”

Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4).

PRAY: Jesus, keep me walking with You. Warn me when I listen to anyone or anything false. My prayer is for others too — as even those with Your ‘new nature’ can be deceived. Grant each of us discernment quickly whenever we are tempted. Don’t allow deception ruin our walk with You and block that new nature from governing our lives. You are enough for every problem; worry adds nothing. It actually blocks You from shining through our lives.

Free to Choose?

 

In discussions about busyness, my husband often says we are busy by choice. Thinking about the many interruptions that I do not choose, he makes me realize how often I must say NO and keep my calendar the way it is, or YES and become busier than I want to be.

It is the same with freedom. In a discussion about living in truth or living in errors promoted by false teachers, the Bible says, “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.” (2 Peter 2:19) In other words, we pick our slave-driver. Will it be such things as false teaching from the world, selfishness in the flesh, or the lies of the devil? Or will it be the freedom of serving Jesus Christ?

I know some think that serving Christ is also bondage, but only because they have mistaken the choices. For example, the Christians in Galatia began their spiritual life with faith. However, instead of living by faith and walking in the Spirit, they tried to become what they thought God wanted them to be by being “made perfect by the flesh” and began a descent from a life of faith to living by rules and laws. They needed to hear again these truths:

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15)
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

The reasons for falling back into law are simple. One is a failure to build faith. Faith grows as we hear and obey God. He tells us to be “like newborn infants, longing for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” (1 Peter 2:2) and to not forsake fellowship with other believers. But it isn’t that simple. The flesh or old nature is crucified with Christ yet tries to tell us how to live and that we cannot be happy unless our ego is fed, our pride rewarded, blah, blah, blah. This noise is enhanced by false teaching:

Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— (Galatians 2:4)

There are many biblical warnings, all of them saying that such slavery happens by choice:

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? (Galatians 3:3–6)
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:13)
Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. (1 Peter 2:16)

When my old nature wants to run my life, the Bible is filled with warnings about the consequences and how that choice is sin. It says, “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23)

Another driving force for living by rules is that nattering voice that says “you will never be good enough” along with the fear of death and standing before God without any claim at all. To this, God says:

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14–15)

It boils down to choices. Some people say God give us the freedom to choose, but without Jesus in our lives, we are incapable of choosing godliness. That freedom only comes to those who have faith in Him. Then I can choose to live for Him out of love, or to live by rules thinking that will please Him, but that is not what He died to give me.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

PRAY: Jesus, Your grace is utterly amazing. Living it out is a challenge only because it offers a freedom that is about obedience motivated by love. There is nothing for me in obedience for doing Your will brings glory to You. However, You have already given me everything I need. May my life honor You because You have honored and blessed me with the ability to choose freedom.

Discipline is a big stick? Or a hug?

 

Our study group talked about God's discipline. Some viewed that word as harsh rebuke. Some understood it as training, much like the discipline of a runner getting ready for a marathon.Today I looked up verses about God's discipline and found that it can be negative and seem harsh, or loving and gently corrective. The negatives are more about the results or responses than about God's attitudes when He disciplines:

I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. (2 Samuel 7:14–15)
O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath! (Psalm 38:1)
The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. (Psalm 118:18)
By mere words a servant is not disciplined, for though he understands, he will not respond. (Proverbs 29:19)
And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips. (Jeremiah 7:28)

On the positive side, the reason God disciplines is because He loves His children and wants the best for us. Believing that makes seeking His will much easier.

“Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. (Job 5:17)
Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law, (Psalm 94:12)
My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, (Proverbs 3:11)
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. (Proverbs 12:1)
But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. (1 Corinthians 11:32)
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:5–11)
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. (Revelation 3:19)

I’ve noticed when parents discipline their children, it can be motivated because the child is annoying them. Other parents are motivated by love and use discipline to train their child to be wise and well-behaved. Most children seem to realize which motive is behind the correction.

It is wise to remember that God is not dealing with me because I am annoying Him. While I could be acting badly, His reason for correction is always for my good.

PRAY: Oh Father, thank You for Your love and grace. It shows up when I’ve behaved foolishly and You bring correction to me. You always do it with a hug rather than a big stick and an angry scowl. Help those whose earthly fathers were motivated more by annoyance than love that they will realize You are not like that. Remind us often that You love us — and that You discipline us so we will become more like You.
P.S. Monday I told You that I’d really like to have some pink tulips. Then yesterday, a neighbor came to our door with a gift for me — a vase filled with pink tulips! My eyes are still leaking.

Knowing and accepting God’s Will…

As a new Christian (more than 50 years ago) a major truth I learned was this:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28–29)

The delight of that discovery stuck. God uses everything to conform me to the image of Jesus. My part? Pay attention. As today’s devotional says, so many Christians have a problem seeing God in everything. They say, “I can easily submit to things that come from God, but I cannot submit to people…” or the weather or whatever, making a life of faith only a theory. Almost everything has a human element of somebody’s failure, ignorance, carelessness, or sin. God does not author sinful things. So often, the humans involved are blamed, resented, retaliated against, and resisted. Yet I understand those verses to say that God uses whatever happens to me to change or provoke a godly, Christ-like response. They could harm but He does not intend harm.

My mother often said, “We must need it or we would not be getting it.” She accepted that all things had a purpose. If I need to be kind to others, God allows situations where that can happen. If I need to better keep confidences, people tell me their secrets. It isn’t always simple to discern what good He wants for me in every situation, but the gist is that Jesus lives in me and God uses the happenings of life to bring Him out where others can see what He is like.

The reality is that if I am trusting my life to God, then others are not being allowed to mess with me and have a prevailing influence in my thinking and actions. When I look for God's hand in what they do to me, then there is a choice: a response from my old nature — or a response from the One who lives in me and is changing my life to be like His.

Last night someone shared how she erred and God rebuked her, but it felt good. I responded with, “God is the only one who can kick our backside and hug us at the same time.” Everyone laughed because we have all had that lovely experience. His discipline is in love, in wanting the best for us, and we know it and are glad for it.

With that attitude, I can say: The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? (Psalm 118:6) Yet it works only if I see God in everything and receive everything directly from His hands, with no intervention by second causes. This makes possible that joyful estate of entire abandonment and perfect trust.

PRAY: Lord, last night everything ached and I felt like staying home from our regular Monday Bible study/prayer group meeting. I went, almost against my will, and soon realized being there was Your will. My aches quickly vanished and joy filled my heart. This was another of the enemy’s devices, designed to stop me from obeying You and using all sorts of things to do it. Sometimes emotions, sometimes physical aches and pains, sometimes the actions and attitudes of other people, or my own, anything negative. Spiritual wars are seldom obvious and none of them are won by looking at the clashing swords or listening to the sounds of ammunition. They are only won by recognizing that You have a purpose in the events, I need to accept it and look for what You want. But if Your will is not involved, then I can ask You to remove the problem, or distraction, or whatever is turning me away from You. Thanks for the immediate sense of peace and well-being when I accept Your will, no matter what.

Watch out for worldly motives…

All I did was enter a store looking for something attractive to hang on our front door. The wreaths looked cheap and they didn’t have much else for doors, but the rest of the store had all sorts of nice things. I walked about and looked and touched and began to feel covetous. I could have bought whatever appealed to my eyes but held back and left the store. Now I realize what held me back:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15–17)

It was not the nice stuff, but deeper. My motive for wanting what I saw was definitely a worldly ‘desire of the eyes and pride of life’ and the Lord would not let me stay in that place. Today’s devotional addresses this issue and shows me how easily I can be side-tracked. It says (and I personalize it)…

Anything cherished in my heart contrary to the will of God, whether it seems insignificant or deeply hidden, will cause me to fall (or rob me from God’s joy)… any self-seeking… any doubtful habits or surroundings… consciously indulged, will effectually cripple and paralyze my spiritual life… I may wonder and question and despair and pray. Nothing will do any good until the wrong thing is dug up from its hiding place, brought out to the light, and laid before God. The moment, therefore, that I meet with a defeat, I must at once seek for the cause, some hidden want of consecration… Just as a headache is not the disease itself but only a symptom of a disease situated in some other part of the body, so my loss of joy is only the symptom of an sin hidden in… my nature.

I’ve wanted nice things before but not lately. The Spirit shows me that this attempt to a nice door ornament was motivated by a desire to impress our neighbors (long story behind that) and God gave me a sharp rap in my emotions to tell me again that the action may be fine, but if the motivation is not godly, then the actions are not acceptable either.

Besides the loss of joy, all the concerns I’ve been praying about seemed bigger, despite good news concerning several of them. I simply could not see the Lord at work and only gloom and doom.

PRAY: Jesus, I’m thankful You have established in my heart the importance of keeping short accounts with You. This shopping attempt didn’t seem a big deal at the time, and it wasn’t, but being motivated by the desire for all the nice things I could see and satisfying my pride is not from You. I confess this, knowing You forgive and cleanse. Thank You for such amazing grace.

Grace vs. try harder…

True story. It happened before Christ came into my life. My first husband, now deceased, worked near home. We had two small children so supper was at a regular time, but occasionally he and his business partner would go for drinks without telling me. When he got home, his supper was cold and I was hot. One day a radio program said that when people do something wrong and get punished, they feel better because that is what they expected. The suggestion was ‘no punishment’ and then they must face up to their guilt.

I never thought of it as being manipulation so tried it. The next time he was late for supper, I warmed his meal and acted as if he was on time. He was puzzled, but he never was late for supper again.

Today’s devotional is about a Christian’s reaction when we fail. It says that discouragement is never a remedy. Just as a child who is learning to walk might lie down in despair when he has fallen, so a believer who is learning to walk by faith might give up in despair when he has fallen into sin. The author adds, “The only thing to do in both cases is to get right up and try again.”

God never says, “Lie down and be discouraged” yet this is often the temptation. Some might feel it is presumptuous and even impertinent to go at once to the Lord after having sinned against Him. It seems as if we ought to suffer the consequences of sin first for a little while and endure our accusing conscience. We might struggle to believe that the Lord can quickly receive us back into loving fellowship even though He says:

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:5–9)

This links to the profound truth illustrated by the advice on that old radio show. Grace that God forgives has a far greater effect on repetitive sin than punishment! When I know that He forgives me, I am less liable to do it again. However, when I try to ‘punish myself’ with feeling bad and calling myself an idiot, that has little effect. Not only that, the idea of ‘trying again’ does not work either. If I could succeed that way, I would not need Jesus.

Furthermore, I can see a parallel between those self-directed accusations and my pride. The deeper my pride, the more I tend to punish myself when I fail to be godly in some way. Sin always happens when I listen to such things as “try harder” or “you can do better” or “you are too smart to make mistakes” — blah, blah, blah. Yet when conscious of being helpless and having no power without Jesus, failure is less of a surprise and more of a motivation to rely on Him.

Not only that, the answer is never “get up and try again” but “get on your knees and confess — be forgiven and cleansed.” Regret and self-centered ‘poor dumb and foolish me’ does absolutely nothing.  Jesus is my Savior because I cannot save myself. Far more important to realize…

For I have died, and my life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is my life appears, then I also will appear with Him in glory. (Colossians 3:3–4)

PRAY: I’m thankful for the lessons in living and walking with You, Jesus. Keeping short accounts means a great boost to spiritual growth. I am not only forgiven but recognize that when I confess sin, You do amazing things to wipe clean my sinful desires. Your love and grace to keep me in fellowship with You is far more effective than my disgust with myself or any motivation to get up and try harder.

 

In a dark place?

 

In the past few days, my husband’s injury topped by a rare bout with a common cold makes him seem like a different person. He feels weak and has pain keeping him away from normal activities. I have felt numbed by it, feeling alone, almost as if abandoned. Yesterday, the Lord lifted me out of that deep hole and restored my trust in Him. Today, through seeing a grave error in thinking in another person, and through four devotional readings, He gives me a deeper understanding of human fragility and of how much all of us need Jesus.

The first reading was the folly of thinking I will never fail. Even though experience says we fail and all Christians agree that temptation sometimes wins, this week I confessed something to a small group and they would not let me call it sin. They defined it so the matter was God’s will rather than my disobedience. I wanted assurance, not that!

The reading said that failure/sin ought not happen but we must deal with facts, not theories. The Bible does not say sin is impossible, only that Jesus Christ saves us from it being a necessity. The writer says faith in Christ does not make it impossible to sin; only that sin ceases to be our only choice. Therefore, continual victory is available to us. This is not about theory but our experience. As the NT says:

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8–10)

The second devotional was written many years ago by one of God’s children. It says:

I have to confess tonight with deep humility of soul before God that I am a poor miserable sinner in His sight! The question I asked myself last night revealed to me the unbelief and rebellion of my heart. I found that I could not trust Jesus unconditionally for the future; and further and worse, that I was cherishing hard thoughts of Him because He did not bless me as I desired! I have passed a day of intense wretchedness. I seemed to lose my hold of everything, and to be cut adrift upon a fearful sea of unbelief and sin.
I doubted Jesus and nothing else was of any account. None of my past experience seemed worth anything, and Satan urged me to throw the whole thing up, and to turn to the world for that satisfaction which he tried to persuade me I had not found in Christ. So dreadful a thing is the slightest unbelief! But my faithful Savior would not let the Devil carry off one of His sheep like that, and He has delivered me from his snare. —Journal, May 11, 1868

Earlier this week, those could have been my words and today, I can joyfully add the last sentence. The struggle to have faith in the unseen future when it threatens to grow bleak and darker still happens — a battle common to all who trust in Christ. It may not be expressed but the enemy often throws our hearts into a deep hole.

The third reading speaks of a boy on a bicycle pedaling up a hill against the wind. Then a trolley car came along going the same direction. The lad laid hold of the bar at the back end of the car and his efforts ceased as the trolly carried him easily.

The author of this reading had been in a time of weariness and weakness, almost worn out by the circumstances of life. This scene put in mind the available strength of Jesus Christ and how only “reaching out and grasping Him in faith was enough to make His power mine” was all that was needed to dismiss his weariness. The assurance is this:

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you… was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 1:19–22)

PRAY: God, most often the words I hear from You are, “I am here, with you.” How awful the sin of forgetting this truth and dropping into a dark place. Why do that? It is the way of the world (read the newspapers) and the way of the flesh (I can do this myself) and the lie of the devil (God does not want the best for you) and all three shout it. No excuses; Your whisper is louder, longer, true and sustaining. Praise Your name for holding on to me, no matter how foolish my thoughts and sinful reactions to the trials of life. Your faithfulness is most precious.