Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God

Romans 14:8  If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Upon entering Wheaton Grad School I was aware that I had the potential to do really well.  Mediocrity was no longer acceptable but I was also aware that I had never been a great student – my study habits had to change.  It’s one thing to think about becoming a good student.  It’s another to actually become one.  The Lord didn’t leave me to my own devices – He gave me a life changing idea and the motivation to implement it.

I needed to hold myself accountable for how much time I actually studied outside of class.  This resulted in the creation of my ‘Accountability Book’.  I tracked down to five minute blocks of time how much I actually studied, and I was ruthless with myself.  I remember going to the library to study for the morning.  My thoughts were I would study for four hours from 8:00 until 12:00.  The reality was a bit different.  After taking time out for getting coffee in the union, talking with friends, checking my mail, going to chapel, etc… instead of four hours of study, it was 1 hour and 40 minutes!

The lesson of the Accountability Book was if I put in the time to genuinely study, I got ‘A’s.  This led to the realization that my focus wasn’t to be on getting ‘A’s but upon the ‘process’ of studying – mastery of what I needed to learn.  This led to the liberating realization that right process produces right results.

Inherent in this is recognizing that we have a lot to learn and the importance of always being teachable.  Whether it’s learning a job, learning to be a spouse or a parent – or learning to do these roles better – we have invaluable resources to help us achieve quality.  First and foremost is our Lord who is intimately involved in our lives.  He will show us where we need to improve.  In addition, we have Scriptures, books, mentor/coaches, pastoral teams, Christian friends, bosses, co-workers, etc… as valuable resources.

We must recognize that being a good parent, a good spouse, good worker, etc… is consistent with (and required by) our faith.  He enables us to recognize our shortcomings and become better at these things than we currently are.  Never be too proud to ask for help.  Our Lord wants quality in all of the roles we find ourselves in.  He doesn’t separate the sacred and the secular.

Our life in Christ transforms us so that we are able to glorify Him and must glorify Him with ever-improving quality in everything we do.  This is what living to the Lord is all about.  Beginning today, wherever we find ourselves, Jesus has a redemptive path that will enable us to do just that.

Hebrew 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. (Amplified)

As a student growing up, I was always content with ‘B’s.  There was a national test we took each year in school that indicated that I was capable of better than that but I was set in my ways.  In college the same continued – I was doing okay but just wanted to get through my courses.  Then in my junior year I became a Christian.  Studies took a back seat to prayer meetings, Bible studies, witnessing, conferences and other Christian activities.  My grades sank and I ended up on academic probation.

At the end of my junior year I went to Colombia on a short-term mission trip.  There the Lord gave me a ‘major’ revelation that He wasn’t glorified if I flunk out of school.  I needed to get my degree if for no other reason than to honor my parents and the sacrifices they had made in my behalf.  Needless to say, I repented and went on to graduate.

Several years later the Lord made it clear that I was to pursue graduate school.  (PTL I had my BS degree!)  I pursued going to Wheaton.  As part of the application process I had to take something called a Graduate Record Exam (GRE).  It is like the SAT or ACT for college graduates.  I got a GRE study book and seriously prepared for the exam.  Fortunately I did well and was accepted by the Grad School.

When meeting with my advisor for the first time, he noted that my GRE score was high and exclaimed, “You are capable of excellence!  I’m expecting ‘A’s out of you!”  This led to one of the most life-changing communications to me from the Lord.  I did not hear an audible voice but He could not have communicated more clearly to me.

The message I received from Him was this:  “As long as you think you are only capable of mediocrity you will be content with mediocrity.  You are capable of excellence and I am holding you accountable for excellence!”  Needless to say, I responded.  For the first time in my life I got ‘A’s!

Unfortunately, so many Christians have unknowingly accepted the lie of mediocrity in our relationship with Jesus.  We are content with so much less than He wants us to have.  We read about wonderful things in the Bible or the moving testimonies of others but don’t think we can experience a relationship with God like that.

The message that God gave me regarding my studies applies to all of us in our relationship with Him.  Every Christian is capable of experiencing excellence in their Christian life – and He is holding us accountable for it.  He expects us to respond with faith to His word and His Spirit and seriously pursue Him.  When we do, we experience the excellence that comes with diligently seeking Him.

Philemon 22  And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.

This verse reminds me of dear friends and a memorable answer to prayer.  Shortly after we were married, we were living in Lansing, Michigan.  We were going through the normal struggles that many new ministries go through.  God blessed us with an older couple, John and Sue, who were wonderful friends to us and were an inspiration to many.  They opened their home and lives to so many young men and women to help them grow in the Lord.

Fasting and prayer were vital to John and Sue and a part of their daily lives.  They viewed them as essential elements in seeking the Lord and being empowered to be the man and woman God wanted them to be.  We were often amazed at how God spoke to them and used them to bless others.  They were loving, kind and selfless.

The Lord spoke to them about establishing a foundation and pouring everything they owned into it where they could minister to people in need of help or encouragement.  They purchased a big old house and 50 acres and it became the center of their work and a place of prayer.  It was a home where they could have people stay with them for various periods of time to minister and help them.

There came a time when I was struggling with the work we were attempting to do.  While praying the Lord put on my heart to call John and Sue and ask if I could come and spend a few days there with them to seek the Lord.  When I did they encouraged me to come.  It was a blessing to be there – spending time in the word and prayer and gleaning wisdom from John and Sue.

While there I was reading Philemon and the Lord really quickened this verse to me – so much so that I mentioned it to John and Sue at breakfast.  They grinned and informed me that the Lord had spoken to them a couple of weeks earlier that I was to come and spend some time with them there.  They had the guest room prepared for me and were confident that through their prayers I would come.  I am still blessed by memories of this simple yet profound example of God answering prayer and His using Christians to express His love.

Portions of Proverbs 3

The book of Proverbs is so rich in teaching and guidance.  So many of the verses simply reflect the premise that if “if we do that”, “this” will be the result.  Below I have listed some of the results from Proverbs 3, probably my favorite chapter of Proverbs.

The Scriptures declare that God rewards those who diligently seek Him.  Following the instructions in Proverbs is a way of doing that.  I encourage you to go look and see what the “if we do that” portions are for each of these blessings – and then commit yourself to doing them. 

² for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you prosperity.

⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.

^6b and he will make your paths straight.

⁸ This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.

¹⁰ then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.

1 Peter 2:9  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Years ago one of our dearest friends named Ric was a pastor of a small church in West Virginia.  A pastor friend of his came to the church for some meetings.  As I recall, when the friend first arrived Ric and some of the members were showing him the church building where the meetings would be.  It was then that the friend spotted the little organ.

The church happened to have a small Hammond organ that had been there for years and the people didn’t think much about it.  Well, Ric’s friend happened to also be an amazing pianist.  Right then and there he sat down at that little organ and the music that came forth was beyond anything the members of that church had ever dreamed off.

They were stunned and amazed to realize that what they were hearing was coming from their ‘little Hammond organ’!  They had no idea that it was capable of such magnificent beauty and power.  Yes, the friend was a great musician, but this was coming from their little nondescript organ.

Let me borrow from CS Lewis a bit.  Suppose that little organ was alive and could talk like the animals and trees in Narnia.  My guess is that it would have been as stunned as those listening.  I can just see this little talking organ incredulously asking Ric’s friend when he finished, “How did you do that?!!!”  It had no idea what it was capable of until played by a master.  From that day forward, its whole world changed.

Today’s verse is not to intimidate but to inspire.  It is to thrill us with the glorious beauty of who we are and get to be.  Because of Jesus and our response in faith to Him, we are “…[God’s] own purchased, special people,…”.

Just as this little organ was the source of stunningly beautiful music when played by a master, so are we.  God wants each of us to understand that He is the ‘master musician’ in our lives.  He desires, “…that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (Amplified)

It is absolutely amazing what He can accomplish in and through us when we commit ourselves to Him.  We must understand who we are and what our destiny is from His perspective, not ours.  We are not to be content with mediocrity.  Because of Him, we are capable of excellence – and He is holding us accountable for it.

Galatians 5:16  So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Computers are a vital part of our lives. You likely wouldn’t be reading this devotional without one.  They are really wonderful when they are fast and have the software we need.  One thing about computers though, is that they are also targets and require protective software: antivirus, anti-spyware, firewalls, encryption, identity protection… the list just goes on.  We have spam filters, content filters and all manner of security to protect us from hackers, unwanted emails or to prevent access to sites with certain content.

Over the years Donna and I have been blessed to have friends who worked with computers.  They would help and advise us in setting up our computer with the appropriate protective software.  When we needed help, we knew who to call.

The focus in computers is what they can do – not that they are susceptible to all manner of negative things.  There is an old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  That really applies here.  Properly set up and maintained computers free the users from undue concern over vulnerabilities and enable them to focus on the things to be done.

The same principle applies to our Christian lives.  As Christians, we have the Spirit of God within us.  When we live by the Spirit, He enables us to overcome sinful desires we encounter.  By living in Him and God’s word, ‘firewalls’ are erected to keep sinful desires at bay. They keep us from going to those places where dangerous temptations are located.

Recognize that ‘those places’ can be websites, TV programs, books, magazines, video games, etc… as well as actual physical locations like bars, clubs, stores or hangouts; being with individuals or groups that  lead us astray by us becoming more receptive to the sinful desires and behaviors they manifest.  When we ignore the Holy Spirit’s warnings, the unacceptable can – and will – gradually become acceptable to us.  Unfortunately, this problem is rampant among far too many Christians.

The Holy Spirit helps us understand and apply God’s word in unfamiliar situations where danger might be lurking.  He is ever vigilant.  Unlike computer software, there is absolutely nothing that can get by Him – we don’t have to worry about upgrades.  He simply requires that we live by Him.

Remember, in a computer, protective software simply enables it to do what it is designed to do.  The same principle applies to us as Christians.  Living by the Spirit, enables us to become the men and women of righteousness that God intends.  I love 1 Peter 2:9 because it presents such a glorious picture of who we get to be in Christ:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Hebrews 5:14  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

In Colorado Springs it sure is easy to know which way is west – and from that all the other directions are clear.  This is because the Front Range and Pike’s Peak are directly to the west of the city.  When facing the mountains, north is to the right, south is to the left and east is behind you.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it were that easy to tell good from evil – or right from wrong?

How do we know what is good and what is evil?  What is our basis for identifying such things?  Years ago I remember reading about an art forger who commented that one of the highlights of his ‘career’ was having art critics in Europe declare his forgery the original, and the original work of art the forgery.  Apparently, his forgeries were common enough that the critics got used to them.

We have this problem that the world has its own idea about what is good and evil.  Sometimes it seems that the biggest evil to the world is Christians making any kind of judgment that something is evil or wrong.  Isaiah addressed this problem – that we must contend with daily – when he wrote:

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. (Isaiah 5:20)

Some things are so blatantly evil that they are like a Pike’s Peak– so big you can’t miss them.  But that isn’t the general way the enemy of our soul attacks us.  He tries to blur the lines and induce Christians to walk in pathways that lead to temptation – that present unrighteousness in attractive packaging.  We become familiar with pathways that have his ‘forgeries’ presented as the norms of ‘good’ behavior.  His goal is to have us reach a point where we affirm the forgeries and reject the ‘original’.  God forbid that we should call his redefined ‘acceptable’ behavior sin!

If we insist on accurately identifying evil as evil and good as good, the enemy of our souls will try to move us to becoming overtly judgmental of others.  That can produce a prideful blindness that is repugnant to God.  Remember the Pharisees were so concerned with sin they missed Jesus.

God’s word, the Bible, is our standard.  It identifies that ‘good and evil’ applies to behaviors, thoughts, attitudes, actions – every area of our lives.  God wants us to walk in righteousness and it is imperative that we learn to do it – and do it in the fullness that it entails.  This means we have to learn what His word says.

We are surrounded by ‘forgeries’ and His word is the standard that identifies them and enables us to choose wisely.  This doesn’t happen by accident.  We must recognize that walking in righteousness requires focus, intentionality and training to do it His way.

Proverbs 12:22 The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.

Is it okay sometimes to not tell the truth or to deliberately mislead?  Are ‘white lies’ appropriate sometimes?  Are there ever situations where avoiding hurting someone’s feelings should take priority over telling the truth?  Are ‘half-truths’ okay?  What qualifies as dishonesty?

Have you ever done something like this?  You’re running late for an appointment – say 20 minutes late because you got busy and forgot the time.  En route to the appointment there is a traffic accident that delays you 2 minutes.  Upon arriving at your appointment, you apologize for being late and inform them you were delayed by an accident on the highway.  The impression you want to give is that your tardiness is due to something beyond your control – a highway accident – versus your own negligence.

Think of being asked the question, “What were you doing?”  Suppose you were playing or reading stuff on the internet instead of working; or watching an inappropriate movie; or visiting inappropriate websites; or looking at inappropriate magazines.  How truthful will our answer be?  This brings up an entirely different subject of “What is inappropriate?” which we will look at later.

Our God is a loving God.  But He also informs us of His view of actions and behaviors.  Today’s verse is rather unambiguous to say the least.  On the one hand He detests those who lie and delights in those who tell the truth.  Note that it isn’t just the lies that He detests – it’s the one telling them!  Conversely, He delights not only in truth but in the one telling the truth.

Here is today’s verse in the Amplified version, “Lying lips are extremely disgusting and hateful to the Lord, but they who deal faithfully are His delight.”  The point isn’t to bring condemnation, but to bring God’s word into play in an important area of our lives.  The world thinks nothing of lying.  The world would answer the questions in the opening paragraph with a resounding “Yes!”  Unfortunately, far too much of the world is roosting in the lives of Christians.  

While it is unpleasant to ponder the idea that God might detest some things we are doing, it is redemptive if we turn to Him and ask for His help to change.  We are commanded to please Him.  A more redemptive view is that we “Get to please Him!”  What a blessing it is when His Word and His Spirit show us areas in our lives where we fall short.  He enables us to repent and change – to replace our unrighteous actions with righteous ones.  He doesn’t leave us to ourselves, but is committed to enabling us to live lives that bring Him delight.

1 John 3:1a  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

A few weeks ago I had my 43^rd birthday in Jesus.  In this Thanksgiving season, I am so mindful of the wonder of what He did in my life.  It was the day my world was forever changed.  Prior to that day, it never entered my mind that anyone could have a tangible, loving relationship with God; a relationship that went both ways.  He loves to express His love to us and we get to express our love to Him.

A relationship with Jesus is not just a theological reality – it is a whole new world.  Being born-again means we become His son or daughter but there is so much more to it than that.  It means that we become restored to a place where we can live our lives with Him and for Him.  It becomes our starting place.

Think of it!  We get to walk with Him.  We get to love Him.  We get to please Him.  We get to experience His affection.  Likewise each day He is with us.  He loves us.  He blesses us.  He guides us.  He disciplines us as sons and daughters.  We are His!

Our relationship with God is so incredibly practical.  He deals with who we are – transforming us into the image of Jesus.  He gives us the desire and helps us learn the things we need to learn – the doing part.  The more we become like Him, the better able we are to glorify Him in our daily lives.  A man or woman with a life characterized by the love of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit is in a much better place to become a Godly husband or wife; a father or mother; friend; neighbor; son or daughter….

As I write this, I am overwhelmed with gratitude.  It is like an artesian spring within me.  It just never ends.  No matter how difficult things might become from time to time, it is there.  What a treasure He gives us.  When I met Him, 43 years ago, I wondered how such an incredible experience could last a lifetime.  It never occurred to me that it could or would get even better!

Psalm 42:1  As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

We had the blessing of living for twenty years in a little village in the middle of a 32,000 acre national park in NE Ohio between Akron and Cleveland.  We were in a valley, surrounded by forests and fields with a river running through the middle of it.  It was home to a great many white-tailed deer.  We could hardly drive anywhere without seeing them particularly in the morning and evening.

After moving into our home there we soon learned that the deer considered the flowers we planted ‘lunch’!  Later we built a wrap-around porch on our house with hanging plants centered in the railing sections.  We had to install gates on the porch because the deer would come onto it to eat the plants.  Whenever we drove, we had to keep an eye out for the deer because deer accidents were so common.  We had four in those years with several near misses.

One of the important side benefits of being around the deer was the way they reminded me of this verse.  For years it presented a fascinating picture, but I just glossed over the part of the verse that talks of my soul panting for God.  Later when the Lord began dealing with me about passion for Him I came to realize that this verse describes how He wants me to become.  He wants my soul to pant and thirst after Him just like a thirsty deer pants for streams of water.

This began a great adventure for me in seeking the Lord as to how to make this happen.  It’s one thing to say it or claim it – it’s another for it to be descriptive of what is actually occurring.  One of the things that helped me in the process was the conviction that it was the Holy Spirit, at work in me, who was causing me to seek after this.  Since He was the source, my hope was grounded firmly in the fact that He would enable me both to pursue and grow into this goal He had for me.

Thus began a process of daily praying for this to become me. Overall it was part of a much bigger picture of becoming passionate for God.  The focus was upon seeking Him.   The amazing thing is not only that God loves to play ‘Hide & Seek’ with us – but that He loves to be found!  (When we’re playing this game with our little kids or grandkids, think of the joy we have in them looking for us and finding us.)

It is now the fall season with Christmas just ahead.  We will see many deer in nature, in calendars, in pictures – even reindeer hitched to a sled.  Let them all trigger thoughts of this verse and the wonderful gift that God has in it for those who seek after Him.