Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God

Hebrews 13:6  So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Years ago when our oldest sons were young, we went to Six Flags over Georgia.  Although I’m the one in our family who had a fear of heights and was allergic to roller coasters, it was my fate to accompany the boys on a couple of rides that I would never have chosen.

I have such a vivid memory of standing in line for this super rollercoaster, dreading every minute of it, while all the children and other adults around me were so excited they could hardly stand it.  Then there was the parachute drop!  Again it was my fate to accompany Jamie on it.  While in line I was timing things so I knew just how long it would take to ascend and drop.

Our turn came and we sat on the tiny board that passed for a seat.  It felt like it was about 4” wide and that I was going to slide off even though we were belted in.  Then, instead of hitting the button to send us up, the guy forgot and turned to the second parachute – prolonging my agony.  He finally turned, saw his mistake – and hit the button   As we ascended, seemingly forever, I kept telling myself I would live through this.  By the time we got to the top, the board underneath me felt like it was 2” wide.

Needless to say, I lived.  I can laugh now, but fear is a reality of life.  Life is filled with opportunities that seem to have fear associated with them.  While sometimes it can be healthy, and keep us safe, often it is a barrier that we must overcome to accomplish what we need or want to do. Rather than viewing fear as a negative and being repulsed by it, see it as a sign of an opportunity to grow.  It is triggered by the risk involved which is a key component of growth opportunities.

Sometimes fear will still be a companion – like with me when I fly.  But with God as our helper we can keep fear in its place and thrive in the opportunities that come – whether they be cold calling, speaking in a meeting or going on a mission trip to Afghanistan.   It’s important that we see that often fear is not a barrier – but a doorway.  With God’s help, we can walk through it.

Veterans Day!

Luke 9:23  Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

If you’re like me, you take advantage of the resources available on line to seek answers to the ‘How To’ questions we have.  There’s stuff we need to do, and by going to Google we can type in our issue and find sources that tell us how to do it.  Today’s verse offers us a prime example of a ‘How To’ issue.  We might ask, “Please tell me ‘How To’ 1) deny myself, 2) take up my cross, and 3) follow Jesus.  We want to do these things, but how?

Some of the themes we’ve been writing about are walking in His ways; obeying His commands; loving God; and continuing in His word.  We have contrasted suggestions versus commands.  We’ve talked about the problem some of us have when we hear the word ‘commands’.  It’s like we have an allergic reaction to the word.  But we must get past that to recognize they are the answers to the great “How To’s” of our faith.

Our goal is to help us come to grips with the fact that the New Testament is filled with such ‘answers’ that we as Christians are to ‘do’.  Today let’s look at some of the ‘answers’ that are spread throughout the New Testament that describe denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus:

• Do everything in love.
• Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit
• In humility consider others better than yourselves
• Your attitude should be that of Christ Jesus
• Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling
• Do everything without complaining or arguing
• Rejoice in the Lord always
• Let your gentleness be evident to all
• Do not be anxious about anything
• Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry
• Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience
• Bear with each other
• Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another
• Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts
• Be thankful
• Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
• Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men

Do we understand that these are not suggestions!  And they are just a handful of what the Bible contains for us.  They are not elective or optional.  By embracing these things and allowing the Holy Spirit to do His work in us, we deny ourselves and take up our cross to follow Jesus.  This is the way – and the only way – to express our love to God.

Psalm 85:5  You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.

I have kept journals for years.  I love to look back five or ten years ago to see what was happening in my life.  Sometimes I rediscover experiences that bring back such special memories of family or trips or things at work.  Other times I read about struggles and difficulties we’ve gone through.

One of the cool things that I’ve done with some of my journals over the years is to highlight with a marker special times with the Lord.  I get blessed again reading about the times when He has really blessed me by showing me things in my life or by manifesting His presence while I’m in prayer.  There are times when He just overwhelms me with joy – where I simply weep because I am so overcome with gratitude for His goodness to me.

It is so wonderful to be forgiven – and more than that – to be chosen; to belong; to be loved.  Years ago, when we were just married, we were about to become involved in a ministry to street people.  I prayed and asked the Lord how I could relate to them since I had basically been a good kid.  I never did drugs and I had a good home.  The Lord spoke so clearly to me.  He said, “You know what it’s like to be lonely.”  And I did.  Only half-jokingly did I talk about myself being left out, not-chosen and left behind.

But when Jesus made me His own – all that changed.  For 57 years, God’s forgiveness, His goodness and His abounding love have been life to me.  And the great news is that He has this for all of us.  He wants us all to be so caught up in the wonder of Him and His love that we want to live for Him more than anything.

Daniel 10:11a He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man treasured [by God].  – Holman Christian Standard Bible

How would we be described by our spouses, children, friends or co-workers, if they were asked what kind of people we are – and they answered with brutal honesty?  Their answers would say a lot about who we are; what we do; how we do it; what are we like to be around; how honest are we; how thoughtful; how ‘other’ oriented; do we brighten their days – and so on.  (Sounds like a candid eulogy, doesn’t it?)

How would God describe us?  This gets to the heart of the issue.  He loved us while we were sinners and showed that love by sending Jesus, through whom we have the opportunity to become His children.  But now that we are family, we need to recognize not only the responsibility we have, but the opportunity!

We want our children and loved ones to become people of quality.  It’s not a matter of us loving or not loving them – it’s a matter of the lives they lead.  We experience great joy and pleasure as we see them grow and mature in Godliness.  The same holds true with God.  How we grow – or not grow – in Godliness, is critically important to Him.  It impacts how He views and interacts with us.  (Don’t be thinking judgment here – but think as a loving parent.)

I rejoice that He has given us Daniel as an example of what will happen in lives that are totally given over to Him.  Consider how scripture describes God’s view of Daniel:

• you are a man treasured [by God].  – Holman Christian Standard Bible
• for you are very precious to God – New Living Translation
• for you are greatly beloved. – Amplified
• you who are highly esteemed, – NIV

Think of it!!  We have the opportunity to become men and women that God would describe as He did Daniel:  treasured, very precious, greatly beloved, highly esteemed.  By walking in His word, the Holy Spirit produces the character and likeness of Christ in every area of our lives.  This is the result of truly loving God.  We don’t pursue it for recognition – but for the wonder of pleasing and blessing Him.

John 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

When I was a student at Wheaton Grad School I was blessed to be able to take a course taught by Dr. Merrill Tenney, a great Bible scholar.  In one class we were talking about the importance of words – their meaning and the context in which they occur.  He mentioned that the two words ‘sight’ and ‘vision’ were perceived by most people to have the same meaning.  But then he noted that if he described someone’s wife as a sight and his wife as a vision, the meanings are very different!

I would like to pose something that is just the opposite of Dr. Tenney’s illustration.  It is where two words are considered as having distinctly different meanings, yet a certain context can cause them to be viewed as having the same meaning.

The two words are ‘suggestion’ and ‘command’.  There is a similarity to these words in that they are at opposite ends of a spectrum.  In a college environment, we might simply think of one as an elective course and the other as a required course.  Electives are optional, required courses are – well, required!

A suggestion may or may not be a good idea, but we have the freedom to choose to follow it or not.   A command is decidedly different.  We typically think of a military context when considering commands.  Commands are to be obeyed.

What is the context that causes these two words to potentially have the same meaning?  Unfortunately, that context for Christians is the context of our lives.  How we live defines how we view the word ‘command’.  All too often, Christians in day to day life, treat Jesus’ commands as suggestions.  They aren’t approached as requirements, but as options or electives.  But scripture doesn’t give us that option.

Christians tend to think “legalism” or have an “allergic” reaction to the words “commands” and “obey”.  How often have we heard (or made) the response “We’re not under the Law”?  But Jesus identifies His commands as the way to love Him!  In fact obeying  His commands is very the definition of loving God (1 John 5:3).

Our response should be an eagerness to learn what His commands are and pursue doing them.  This is not an issue of legalism or earning salvation – it is a requirement of our faith.  But more than that, it is an issue of love.  It is the only way God has given us to show we truly love Him!

Lord, may our lives be living demonstrations that Jesus’ commands are not suggestions.

Ephesians 5:19  Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,

Take My Life And Let It Be – Frances Havergal, 1874

Take my life and let it be, Consecrated, Lord, to Thee, Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise. Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Above, I have the first verse of this wonderful hymn that many of us have sung in our worship services.  In the midst of this verse I believe the Lord allowed me to see a picture of something in a way I hadn’t seen it before.  It came in an instant and I saw and understood it.

This verse talks about our lives – our moments and our days.  Our prayer is to let them flow in ceaseless praise.  Think of that ceaseless praise as a symphony – performed by an entire orchestra – not an individual.  Drums, strings, woodwinds and brass – All the musicians, with their many different instruments, have their appropriate parts to play.  The symphony is to be a harmonious blend of them all.  They are all to be in-tune with each other! – And must follow the conductor’s lead in order to blend together.

In this picture, I saw that our lives, consisting of thoughts, attitudes, actions, words, intents, motives and everything about us – are continually doing two things.  First, our lives are creating a musical score.  Second, our lives are playing as a symphony, the score as we create it.  Each and every one of these aspects of our lives is an instrument and plays a part.  Nothing is left out.  Nothing is too small or insignificant.  Nothing is silent.

The question becomes, ‘How do we sound?’  Is the ‘music’ pleasing or discordant?  A pleasing sound is dependent upon the transforming work of the Holy Spirit and our obedience to walk in His ways.  Nothing escapes His care and attention.  We are to become increasingly responsive to His touch.  When we co-operate with Him, He will bring everything in our lives into submission to His will.  He will create within us the harmony and the wonder of a symphony of life that will glorify our Lord.

Scripture to follow:  

I had a good friend in college named Keith.  His father was a piano tuner who trained him in this trade when Keith was a child.  Keith started tuning professionally at age 9 and was very good at it.  He was raised near a nationally famous music camp and one summer he tuned for Van Cliburn (world famous pianist) who was performing at the camp.

There is one thing that I particularly remember about how Keith did his tuning.  Although he did it by ear, he disciplined himself to tune periodically with a machine.  He found this to be an excellent and necessary way to keep his own ear tuned appropriately.  Otherwise, with the passing of time, his ear would go slightly off.

This is such an important lesson for us to consider as we look at our own lives.  We have habits, associations, friends, idiosyncrasies, patterns of behavior, thoughts and attitudes – all of which need to be ‘in tune’ to the standard that God has for us.  Without diligence, these practices can become ‘off key’ just as much as an out of tune piano.  We might think everything is fine because we become deaf (and blind) to the disharmony we’re producing.  What appears normal can become strident without us being aware of it.  I trust we understand that I am not talking about music here.

Think of the warning in Isaiah 5:40, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who change darkness into light and light into darkness, who change bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter!”  It describes lives ‘in tune’ with the world but ‘out of tune’ with our Lord!

What is sexual impurity?  What is gossip?   Dishonesty?  Immodesty?  Immorality?  What is stealing (in terms of habits and practices done at work)?  How about jealousy or gossip?  Where do you hang out on Friday or Saturday nights?  What do you look at on a computer, your phone or tablet or on TV? Where do we draw the lines on these things?  Who or what defines our standard for right and wrong?  Acceptable and unacceptable?  I never dreamed we’d see the day where the warning in Isaiah would so describe the culture around us.

These are all items, along with many others where we must be in tune with God’s word.  What is good?  What is evil?  [Note: Another way of thinking of this is the question, “Which way is North?”  North is not subject to opinion! – and neither is God’s identification of good and evil.]  We must care enough to submit everything about our lives to Him.  Prayerfully read His word and allow the Holy Spirit to touch anything in our lives.  If we’re really listening, He will show us where we are ‘out of tune’.