MODERATION

Moderation is good at times, but we need to have the wisdom to know when to be moderate and when to be radical.

We don't want to be moderate when as William Lloyd Garrison puts it:

Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; but urge me not to use moderation.

Jesus used radical language during His teaching ministry:

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24). 

If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison--your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple ( Luke 14:26).

Now we ask, when is the right time to be moderate? Moderation has always be known as a virtue. The Free Dictionary defines moderation as: "being within reasonable limits; not excessive or extreme." 


Joseph hall tells us that, "Moderation is the silken thread running through the pearl chain of all virtues."

 Now, I don't think Mark Twain quite had it right when he said, "As an example to others, and not that I care for moderation myself, it has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep, and never to refrain from smoking when awake.

I like how Brandon Sanderson views moderation when he says:

“Once one becomes a man, he can and must make his own decisions. But I do offer warning. Even a good thing can become destructive if taken to excess.”

The Apostle Paul tells the church at Philippi, "that they should let their moderation be known to all men" (Philippians 4:5).

So, we will end with a witty and direct quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Moderation in all things, especially moderation.” 

Father, give us the wisdom when to be moderate and when to be radical. We ask that You would help us to allow the Holy Spirit to bring forth the fruit of moderation and temperance into our lives. We humbly ask Father, that you would help us to view this world and all that it offers as temporary and transient. We ask that You would help us to be radical enough to die to ourselves and pick up our cross daily---for Your glory and honor, AMEN

Can you have your own personal Jesus?

 Martin Luther, in his description of the theology of glory speaks of the different ladders that we vainly try to climb to reach God. Here is a link that you can take a  look at that goes into some detail about Luther's theology of glory and the cross: http://www.opc.org/new_horizons/NH05/10b.html




We have our own personal Jesus when we look at Jesus as a means to an end---the end is our personal fulfillment and happiness. In our culture happiness and fulfillment have become our Gods, and we invent a "Jesus genie" to meet all our wants and needs.








When we take the "cross out of Christianity" we then invent our own way to
reach God---and in our culture it becomes---our moral striving, mystic spirituality, or rational reasoning.

The cross brings us to our knees before a holy and righteous God. The cross tells us that we need a mediator before we can approach God. The cross tells us that we are sinners and in need of a savior. The Cross cuts pride out of the heart of man. The cross is God's way of salvation.

The cross was the only message that the Apostles preached---" but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles... (1 Corinthians 1:23).



Listen to these forceful words of Jesus---"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber (John 10:1).

This one verse is the blinking red light to all who would attempt to reach God on their own terms. You have no say in the matter, you can only reach God through the cross (enter the sheep pen by the gate), for if you try any other method (climbs up some other way), Jesus says you are a thief and a robber.

Vice and Error

Thomas Watson (1620-1686)
Error damns, as well as vice!

Vice is like killing with a pistol;
error is like killing with poison!

We know that the Christian life is filled with many pitfalls.

The well known and beloved hymn by John Newton sums up the Cristian life so succinctly, and in the third stanza of his hymn we sing:

Through many dangers, toils and snares...
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...
and Grace will lead us home.

Christian brother and sister pay attention to how you live, but also pay keen attention to what you believe.

Question: Does your thought life and actions reflect the life of Christ in you? Does your belief system line up with the teaching of the Scriptures?

BE SILENT

What a lesson we believers need to learn. We need to learn  to cultivate a quiet expectation toward God, and slow our lives down and rest in the Lord.

This will not come easy; it is not in our natures. It is a spiritual discipline that must become intentional to take root and become a part of our spiritual make-up.

I don't believe we can grow spiritually unless we learn how to surrender to God and become still before Him.

Take the time to memorize, mediate, and practice Psalm 37:7. I will put the Psalm in my own words, so don't get too excited if you can't find it quite like this in your Bible.

Those who are following God! Slow your lives down; place yourself under God's authority and become silent and still before your God. As you live your lives in quiet obedience before God, you will learn how to wait patiently for Him. When you develop this spiritual disposition, you will begin to look at things from God's perspective, and those who seem to be getting away with all kinds of evil, you will know that they will eventually fall into the hands of the Living God.

HOPE

 

“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.”
― Emily Dickinson

 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
   where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
   the Maker of heaven and earth.

           Psalm 121:1-2

The other day at a Church I was visiting for the first time, I met a very nice woman who I shared some time with after the service. She shared with me some of her life story, which included some pretty deep valleys; the loss of a job, a teenage son who was in rebellion, a recent divorce, and a diagnoses and recovery from breast cancer. 

I mean what do your say to such things! I did reply with, "life is messy and filled with many pains and sorrows. I noted that, "many Christians think that they are excluded from these things because they are followers of Christ," okay! I get it, probably not the most sensitive thing to say, maybe its a guy thing.

BUT what she said to me really had an impact, I knew that she was speaking from the center of her being, she said that what keeps her pushing forward is "HOPE."

Hope! What a grand and wonderful gift the Father has given to his children.

HOPE is found one-hundred-and-thirty times in the Bible in the King James Version.

HOPE IS NOT a wishy washy maybe or a kind of unsure optimism? The modern idea of hope is “to wish for, to expect, but without certainty of the fulfillment; to desire very much, but with no real assurance of getting your desire.”

SCRIPTURAL HOPE is an indication of certainty. “Hope” in Scripture means “a strong and confident expectation.” Though archaic today in modern terms, hope is akin to trust and a confident expectation.

Listen to what C.S Lewis says about hope, desire and longing:

"Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. 

There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise.

"We do not want to merely "see" beauty--though, God knows, even that is bounty enough.

 We want something else which can hardly be put into words--to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.

"At present we are on the outside... the wrong side of the door. 

We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. 

We cannot mingle with the pleasures we see.

 But all the pages of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. 

 Someday, God willing, we shall get "in"... We will put on glory... that greater glory of which Nature is only the first sketch.

"The Christian says, 'Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists.' A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. 

 Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. 

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

"If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. 

 Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only... to suggest the real thing. 

If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, echo, or mirage.

"I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to the other country and to help others do the same."

It seemed that  this women was personally acquainted with Lamentations 3:25, "The Lord is good to those whose HOPE is in Him....

Christian, the concept of hope in the Bible falls under the definition of "here and now" and "not yet," God gives us hope now as we walk with Him, but we know that now we see  through a dirty glass, but when we finally open that window all our hopes will come to fruition.

Father, help us to live in the hope of your promises, give us the perseverance to press on for all that You have laid up for us in eternity, amen.

Developing a heart for God

THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF THOSE THAT HAVE A HEART FOR GOD

At the start let me say, I'm not a big lists kinda guy, but I'm going to give you one anyway. Take the time to reflect and meditate on these three powerful qualities that King David exhibited in his own personal life.

Note: David was a sinful man, his personal sins were many--- But we can find encouragement when we look at David--- we can be reminded that as frail as we are we too can have the kind of  heart that David had--- David was not perfect, but his heart was pointed towards God, even to the end of his days.

Consider some of his last words even after some of his greatest sins:

1 Chronicles 29:10-13

David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, "Praise be to you, O Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. 




The first quality that David possessed was spirituality---The word spirituality can sound esoteric and ethereal to some, it can come across as new-age y, but let me give you some down to earth kinda of spirituality.

When we are living our lives in harmony with the Lord---when the things that are important to God are important to us, when what burdens God's heart, burdens our heart, when God says, "go this way."  and we go that way, then we are exhibiting true Biblical spirituality---in other words, spirituality is being sensitive to the things of God.


The second quality that David possessed was humility--- Think about David's humility from this angle---David was faithful in keeping his father's sheep; he demonstrated his humility by his faithfulness to his job.

If we have a truly humble heart we will do as we are told, we will not rebel, we will follow the orders, we can be trusted and counted on.

The third quality that David possessed was integrity---Integrity has been defined as: "what you do when nobody's looking." I love this next description of integrity, "bone-deep honesty"--- Integrity will cause you to pay careful attention so that your belief system lines-up with your actions.

Christian brother and sister---theses qualities do not happen overnight, but take a life time of discipline to cultivate. God always focuses on the inward qualities---he is not like man who looks on the outward appearance.

A man after God's own heart!

There is one particular declaration in the  Bible that has always arrested my attention---it is when God expressed His affections toward King David when God declared "David to be a man after His own heart" (1Samuel 13:14).

We know on the surface that there was nothing about David that would have impressed God. David was a shepherd, and a young one at that, living in the village of Bethlehem. Remember, David's own father didn't even think to include him until Samuel asked, "Are these all your sons?"


In spite of David's low standing, God sent the prophet Samuel to the house of Jesse to look for the next king of Israel. That next king would be David the youngest son of Jesse---God says in effect, David, "you have what I'm looking for, you will be the next king of Israel."









Why then did God say that David was a man after His own heart? We know that it was not Davids social standing, wealth, or his celebrity status. I think that this particular writing of David s best captures the meaning behind the phrase:
 

I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” Psalms 16:2

I think that David recognized that the only good thing in life was the Lord, the creator of all good things. David knew that God was the one and only true good sovereign who reigned over all the earth.

 I have read before that President Theodore Roosevelt often went outdoors at night, looked up into the vastness of the universe, simply to remind himself of his humanity compared to the vastness of the universe.  I'm sure on those dark starry nights as David tended to his sheep, he would look up into the vastness of space and realize his humanity, and be reminded of the bigness of the God of Israel.

If we go to the New Testament to Paul's first letter to the Corinthians 1:26-29, we see that God does not call individuals based on their wordily status or their natural proclivities, but rather by His own set of rules.

Pay attention to verses 28-29---"God also has chosen the world's insignificant and despised people and nobodies in order to bring to nothing those who amount to something, so that nobody may boast in the presence of God."

That's it Christian!---God's choice of David was for His glory and honor--- Yes, David's inner-life was soft and tender to the voice of God---but in the end it is always about God's glory and honor.

Father give us hearts that are soft and tender, so we would submit our wills to Your Lordship---Give us the understanding that the Christian life is to be lived for Your glory and honor amen.