Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God

Romans 12:17  Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.

Back during the Depression my father worked in a bank. One of his memories was that the tellers at the bank he worked at were not trained to spot counterfeits by looking at examples of counterfeit currency.  The focus was upon learning what the genuine bills looked like.  They became so familiar with the real that when they were flipping through the bills, a variant would stand out no matter how small or subtle the difference was.

Taking a look at today’s verse, consider evil and wrong (the opposite of right) as counterfeits.  We can spend our time focusing on what not to do, but that raises the question of how do we know whether an action or attitude is evil or wrong.  It makes a whole lot more sense to focus on learning what is right.

What is the right way to respond when evil is done to us or those we love?  How do we determine what is right when in the midst of turbulent circumstances?  Let’s consider another illustration that we can relate to.  Why do pilots get trained and licensed to fly on instruments?

The reality of flying is that all manner of weather is encountered.  We’ve all heard the stories of pilots in flight simulators who fly them ‘into the ground’ because they lose their bearings.  Their instincts are telling them they’re doing fine, but the instruments indicate they are headed for disaster.  Pilots must trust their instruments when they are flying in adverse conditions.

These two illustrations present a unique picture for us.  God’s Word is the ultimate and absolute source of defining what is right.  It contains the principles and instructions that provide the basis for recognizing what is right in every situation.  The Holy Spirit in essence becomes our ‘instrument panel’.  He communicates to us the insights and understandings needed to safely navigate every situation – no matter how difficult or confusing.

We learn His voice.  He brings to mind appropriate understandings of God’s word that apply to the situations at hand.  We learn to trust Him, not our instincts, public opinion or what seems right.  We look to Him.  It doesn’t mean we won’t make mistakes, but by doing this we become increasingly aware of our dependence upon God.  The more we look to Him and live out His ways, the more right choices we will make.

Psalm 20:4  May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

I remember reading this verse and not having a clue what the desire of my heart was.  On top of that, I didn’t know what my specific plans were either.  A close friend asked me if I could do anything I wanted, what would it be?  I couldn’t answer him either – other than saying to be prosperous or successful.

This began a search for me. I just hadn’t thought that much about what my desires were.  It seemed there were things I could say that sounded good, but they really didn’t reflect a deep-seated desire.  It was a given that I wanted to provide for my family and do well at my job, but it seemed that this verse was talking about something deeper than that.

This search became a part of my relationship with God.  I was seeking to become more passionate in my love for Him.  I wanted my life to better demonstrate my love for Him by doing the things His word says to do and to refrain from doing those things it says to avoid.  It became clear that in order to love God more, my life had to become more conformed to His word.  The more it did, the more I loved Him and pleased Him.

Through this search it became delightfully clear to me, that the Lord was giving me understanding about what He wanted our primary desires to be – that He in turn would grant.  More than anything else, He wants us to love Him and please Him in everything.

He also opened my eyes to see that loving my wife, Donna, was inextricably interwoven with loving Him.  Loving Him more, meant loving her more.  (Think of 1 John 4:20b For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.)  Having warm, wonderful emotional feelings for your spouse and for God is great, but loving someone is so much more than that.  We must recognize the reality that our feelings can be communicating one thing, but our attitudes and actions can be sending a very different message.

The reality of life has a way of revealing where we are weak and in need of change.  Who better for the Lord to use than those closest to us to reveal such things?  If we could neither speak nor write – our love must be evident by the life we live.  The desire of our heart must be such a life.

Proverbs 25:11-12  The right word at the right time is like a custom-made piece of jewelry, And a wise friend’s timely reprimand is like a gold ring slipped on your finger. (MSG)

My wife Donna has this wonderful habit.  When the two of us disagree on something, she is right about 99% of the time.  I’m not certain but I suspect on those rare occasions when she is mistaken, that she’s just being kind and giving me an opportunity to be right.

A similar situation exists with our sons.  They are right and I am wrong a whole lot more often than seems reasonable – particularly when it comes to remembering things.  It’s not that it happens all the time – just frequently enough for them to remind me.  It typically results in smiles and laughter.  The feelings I experience are similar to those I have when they share stories of goofy things I have done over the years.

I realize this sounds pretty dumb but isn’t it better to discover that we are mistaken about something and accept correction than to go merrily on our way being wrong?  There are situations where it’s easier to accept correction like if we’re going the wrong direction to get somewhere or when an event is scheduled.

But what about when our beliefs, actions or attitudes in relationships are either wrong or less than they should be?  How positive (or negative) are our responses to someone informing us of that?  Is this an area where we have created (through our past responses) a big NO TRESPASSING sign?  Our family and friends know they go there at their own risk – sort of the only thing worse than me being wrong is you making the mistake of informing me of that fact.

It all boils down to being teachable and becoming a lover of the truth.  We are to have a spirit that wants to improve and is willing to hear and receive a timely word or some corrective input.  Think of how wonderful it is when something we share is graciously received.  Of course it always helps if it is graciously given, but the truth is the truth no matter how it’s given.

Being a lover of the truth means that we don’t reject the message because 1) we reject the messenger, nor 2) the manner in which the message was given.  We have our ears attuned to the Spirit and we cultivate an attitude that responds righteously to others input.  It’s amazing the things we can learn about ourselves and the helpful changes we can make when we do.

Matthew 24:9   “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.

I find myself experiencing growing concern over the lawlessness occurring throughout our country.  Among our media and many of our government leaders there is such a disregard for honesty, integrity and truth, it’s appalling!  Unfortunately it’s all about power.  They are not interested in a world based on Judeo – Christian principles.

Some of the worst attributes of human nature are being cultivated to ‘enhance’ the expression of views that are contrary to all that is good: hatred, vengeance, violence, intimidation, judgment, jealousy, deception, coercion, just to name a few.  Instead of being recognized and called out for what they are, they are embraced and encouraged.

Isaiah 5 contains some serious warnings for us – and for any people.  Sadly, I have written “our country” next to these verses.  Here are some of those warnings that I see flourishing around us:

¹⁸ Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit,
and wickedness as with cart ropes,

²⁰ Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who put darkness for light and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

²¹ Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight.

^24c for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty
and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.

 We cannot and must not resort to similar tactics and attributes of the lawlessness we see.  Jesus Christ and the people of God (that’s us) represent good, light and sweet.  In their presence, the evil, dark and bitter are shamed for what they are – and threatened!  We embrace the word of the Holy One of Israel – they spurn it.  We do it in love – they do it in hate.

Today’s verse is part of Jesus’ answer to His disciples regarding what will be the sign of His coming and the end of the age?  He doesn’t paint a pretty picture.  We will be hated by all nations because of Him.  The evil spiritual forces at work in our country and in the world know where the threat to their plans and existence reside and Jesus has let us know how they will respond.

As we face threatening times let us hold fast to Jesus, for the One who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world.  We are His for such a time as this.  We are light in the midst of darkness.  Let us live up to the destiny He has for us to always glorify Him regardless of the outcome!