Count It All Joy

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials (James 1:2).

Trials come in various shapes and sizes, ranging from minor disappointment to major trauma.

The natural human response to such trials is built in to our bodies. When threatened by trouble, we are flooded with adrenalin which prepares us to fight or flee. Anger and fear go with the territory. Often trials can bring discouragement or depression in their wake. 

The Apostle James was well aware of all this and yet he urges us to count it all joy. Humanly speaking, this seems impossible. But the grace of God in Christ enables us to rise above our natural human responses.

The key to understanding what James means is the word “count” which, in the original Greek, means to reckon or evaluate. In other words, when we find ourselves facing a trying situation we need to evaluate it from God’s perspective, or in the light of his higher purpose for our lives. What is this higher purpose? Trials, according to Scripture, are the tools God uses to form us into the image of Christ. Thus something very important and Christ-like is happening to us when we experience trials -- and that we can count as joy.

A trial is never pleasant. But properly evaluated, the results of the trial under God’s hand are truly an occasion for rejoicing. God is working for our good even in the midst of painful circumstances. Let us ask God for the grace to count it all joy.

Praying to the Father in Secret

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

                                                Matthew 6:6

It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of prayer in the Christian life. If we neglect it, we do so at great cost ourselves. As the hymn writer put it:

                  O what peace we often forfeit,

                  O what needless pain we bear,

                  All because we do not carry

                  Everything to God in prayer.

In the Sermon On the Mount Jesus gave us some very simple but essential instructions about prayer.

First: when you pray go into your room. Every Christian needs a special place where they can commune with God in prayer. It could be a bedroom or a corner of the house. The point is, it becomes a sacred space set aside for you and God.

Second: shut the door. This means we need to be free from distractions. Most of us are constantly bombarded with noise. This noise pollution prevents us from hearing the still, small voice of God and experiencing the gentle stirrings of his Spirit. We need to “shut the door” on this noise and bathe our souls in silence.

Third: pray to your Father who is in secret. How wonderful that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, cares for us, and knows what we need even before we ask. He desires nothing more than that we should come to him with child like faith and pour out our hearts to him in secret.

If we take these three simple steps, says Jesus, our Father who sees in secret will reward us. God cannot always give us what we want in the way we want it, but he always rewards those who pray with blessing upon blessing. To fail to pray is to forfeit the blessings. Prayer is not a burdensome duty but a joyful, rewarding privilege. May we never neglect it.

OVERCOMING ANXIETY PART 3: "Prescription for Peace"

Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

In our first meditation on overcoming anxiety we saw that anxiety is a toxic emotion that none of us can afford to indulge in. Then in our second meditation we saw that, thanks be to God, there is an antidote to anxiety: the peace of God which passes all understanding. The question remaining to be addressed is: how can I, in a very practical way, experience the peace of God in stressful times?

Fortunately, Paul provides us with a simple, step-by-step method for experiencing God’s peace:

Step 1: “Have no anxiety about anything;” that is, recognize the presence of anxiety in your heart and prepare to deal with it at once. Sometimes it can be very helpful to list everything you've been stressing about on a piece of paper.

Step 2: “In everything by prayer and supplication … let your requests be made known to God;” that is, turn your anxiety into prayer. Go down your list and make each item the subject of a simple, direct prayer. Be as specific as possible. For example: “God, I am worried about my son because (fill in the blank) and I put his well-being in your loving hands.”

Step 3: “With thanksgiving.” Heartily thank God for hearing and answering your prayer. Do not neglect this step. Gratitude is a powerful spiritual weapon in the battle against anxiety.

The result? Scripture’s promises that the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in Christ.

Sound too simple to be true? Here’s how it works.

Everything you are anxious about is like a heavy stone in a canvas bag you are carrying on your back. The more things you are worried about the more you will be weighed down and crushed by the load. As you turn these “stones” into prayers, you are putting them into God’s hand and allowing Him to do the heavy lifting. Thus you empty your bag of stones and lighten your load.

But what if I pick the stones back up again? Most likely you will at first. Simply go back to step 1 and repeat the process – again and again if necessary. Remember: this is a spiritual discipline that takes practice. But be assured that the more you practice these principles, the more you will overcome anxiety and experience the wonderful peace of God.

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OVERCOMING ANXIETY PART 2: "The Antidote for Anxiety"

Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

In our last post we saw that anxiety is one of the most destructive of human emotions. It is toxic and wreaks havoc on us – spirit, soul and body. Hence Scripture exhorts us: do not be anxious about anything.

The good news is that there is an antidote to this poisonous emotion: the peace of God.

It’s important to understand that the peace of God is not a humanly manufactured state of mind. The peace of God, insists Paul,  surpasses all understanding; that is, the unaided human mind cannot comprehend it nor attain it. Rather, it is God’s own peace, a heavenly peace, imparted by the Holy Spirit to one’s innermost self.

Nor is the peace of God the mere absence of stress, like the calming of a lake after the wind stops blowing. That is nothing more than the relief that comes from a change of circumstance. The peace of God, rather, keeps us rooted, grounded and calm in the midst of the storm -- while the wind is still blowing! That truly is beyond understanding.

This peace, says Paul, keeps our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The word keeps, which is translated guards in some translations, is a military term. It means that the peace of God is like a garrison, a mighty fortress that shields and protects. Specifically, it guards both our hearts (our deepest personal center) and our minds (our thought life) in Christ Jesus.

How wonderful it is to know, then, that there is an antidote for the anxiety that can so easily overwhelm us. The question is: how can I experience the peace of God on a practical, everyday level?

Fortunately, Paul answers that question for us and it will be the subject of our next One Minute Meditation. So stay tuned.

OVERCOMING ANXIETY PART 1: IS WORRY STRANGLING YOU?

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Our age has aptly been called the “Age of Anxiety”. How important, then, that we listen to the Apostle Paul’s inspired words to the Philippians: do not be anxious about anything. These words are challenging in the extreme. No anxiety? About anything? When was the last time you spent an entire day or even a few hours without experiencing anxiety?

These words are not intended to impose an impossible burden on us, but rather to spare us a great deal of unnecessary suffering.

Few emotions are more destructive than anxiety. The Greek word translated ‘anxious’ in our English Bible means to be pulled in different directions – not a pleasant experience! And our English word, worry, literally means to seize by throat and strangle. That’s a vivid picture of how anxiety works. It chokes the life out of us -- physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Not only is anxiety destructive, it’s also fruitless. Our worrying and fretting accomplishes nothing. As Jesus observed, Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6:27)

The vast majority of things we worry about never come to pass or are about things we are powerless to change. It has been estimated, in fact, that only about 8% of our worries have any actual foundation in reality. Most of our anxiety, then, is as fruitless as paying interest on a debt that in all probability will never come due.

Maybe it’s time to get serious about this whole business of anxiety. Our lives will be dramatically improved if we do. So stay tuned ... there’s more to come.

On Blessing God

Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits (Psalm 103:1-2).

We are forever asking God to bless us. We ask him to bless our families, our meals, and our many plans and endeavors. Bless us, O Lord is without a doubt one of the most frequent and popular of prayers. But the psalmist has a different outlook. He doesn’t ask God to bless him; rather, addressing his own soul, he reminds himself to bless God.

But how can a mere mortal bless God? What can we give to the Creator of Heaven and Earth?

Just as the smallest child can bless its parents, so also we can bless our Heavenly Father. Each one of us has unique gifts to offer God: our love, our gratitude, and our praise. When we offer these gifts to God we are blessing the Lord.

It’s all well and good that we seek God’s blessing on our lives and endeavors. Indeed, it’s imperative that we do so. But let us never forget the psalmist’s exhortation to bless the Lord with all that s within us.

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Overcoming Guilt

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103:11-14).

Have you ever had a gnawing sense of guilt about a particular sin that you couldn't shake -- even after you sincerely confessed it to God? I think most Christians have had that experience from time to time. For some guilt-ridden souls it’s the norm.

Psalm 103 presents three powerful truths about God and his love that will help us overcome the soul-withering power of guilt.

First, magnify the mercy of God. Never let anything overshadow the mercy of God in your life. It’s among the greatest and most celebrated of his attributes. How great is the mercy of God toward those who revere him? As high as the heavens are above the earth says the psalmist. That’s his way of saying God’s mercy is infinite and immeasurable. No one has ever sincerely prayed Lord, have mercy without receiving an  affirmative response from God.

Second, understand that when God forgives he removes our transgressions from us. Forgiveness isn’t just a pronouncement; it’s a removal. The sin is expunged from our eternal record. As to this removal, the psalmist affirms that our sins are removed from us as far as the east is from the west. Now just how far is the east from the west? If you head east you will always be traveling east. No matter how far you go or how long you travel, you will still be traveling east. That’s the psalmist's way of saying our sins have been infinitely removed from us. Believe it and affirm it.

Third, know that God understands and sympathizes with our weakness: For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. Never think that your weakness offends God. On the contrary! Our weakness inspires his compassion. Our Great High Priest, Jesus, has experienced human weakness firsthand through the incarnation. Therefore we should never let feelings of unworthiness prevent us from coming to him: Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

So when you find yourself struggling with guilt, meditate on Psalm 103:11-14. It’s strong medicine for the soul.

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The Holy Spirit: Our Indwelling prayer Partner

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God (Romans 8:26-27).

In times of trouble we instinctively turn to God in prayer. But at such times prayer can be exceedingly difficult. Weakened and emotionally numb, we do not know how to pray as we ought. In the face of bewildering circumstances we cannot fathom the will of God. Our words seem empty and useless as we struggle to articulate our heart’s longing.

 

For example, a loved one is in the final stages of cancer. We don’t want to lose our loved one but at the same time we want their suffering to end. Do we continue to pray for healing or do we ask God to take them home?

Paul assures us that the Holy Spirit is ever present to help us at such times. Even when we don’t know what to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God. The Spirit, who dwells in the deepest recesses of the soul, understands our longings and wordless groans even if we don’t. He makes our heart's desire known to God in perfect harmony with his will.

When we find ourselves pressed beyond measure by the trials of life, how reassuring it is to know we have an indwelling prayer partner: the Holy Spirit of God.

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Faith and Stormy Weather

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher. Don’t you care if we drown?”

                                                Mark 4:35-38

Sometimes we think that if we follow Christ and do his will, we will be shielded from troubles and misfortune. Such is not the case. Following Christ, in fact, practically guarantees that we will encounter all kinds of troubles, trials, and temptations (see James 1:2 and 1 Peter 4:12).

It was clearly Christ’s will for the disciples to cross over to the far shore – he had asked them to do so. Moreover, he was right there in the boat with them. But none of this prevented a furious squall from arising. The waves were crashing over the boat to the point that it was sinking.

The disciples – and don’t forget many of them were experienced fishermen – were in a state panic. And when they saw Jesus in the front of the boat sleeping, they thought he didn’t care: Lord, we’re drowning!

But Jesus wasn’t unconcerned. He was sleeping because he was exhausted and because, storm or no storm, he had perfect faith in the loving protection of his Father.

How easy it is to have faith when the sun is shining. How hard in the midst of a raging storm! Storms and trials come our way to test and refine our faith. Believe without wavering that you are precious to God and that your life is in his hands. And the Lord of the waves will bring you safely ashore.

Have a safe and blessed Memorial Day!

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

John 16:7

Most Christians at one time or another have wondered what it would be like to meet Jesus in

the flesh. How blessed were the first disciples, we think, to have seen him with their eyes and touched him with their hands! And yet when it came time for Jesus to leave this world, he said to the apostles: I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away.

This must have puzzled the apostles. How could it possibly be to their advantage for Jesus to leave them? Jesus answers that, when he goes away (e.g. ascends into heaven), he will send the Counselor, who is none other than the Holy Spirit, to them.

The indwelling Holy Spirit is far more advantageous to followers of Christ than his mere bodily presence. Confined to his human body, Christ could only be in one place at one time. He could only reach people externally, that is, from the outside in. But with the coming of the Holy Spirit all of this would change.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to bring the presence of Christ to us in a far more intimate and personal way than physical presence. The Spirit of God is to united with our spirit and dwells in our heart. Now Christ can reach us in the deepest wellsprings of our being where true transformation begins. Christ’s physical body could be taken from the disciples, but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is an eternal and unbreakable bond.

So let us not envy the apostles for their proximity to Christ. His indwelling Spirit is far more advantageous for them and us.

Have a blessed Pentecost!

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Bruised Reeds and Smoldering Wicks

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory. Matthew 12:20

Did you ever feel like a bruised reed or a smoldering wick? 

The reed, hanging by a mere strand, is the very picture of brokenness. The smoldering wick, having come to the end of its oil supply, is sputtering and smoking – clearly on its last legs. Most of us have felt this way at one time or another.

Some people have no sympathy for human weakness. They dismiss folks out of hand because of their brokenness, offering instead neglect, criticism and contempt. Not so, Christ. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus, full of mercy and compassion, would never break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick.

Christ could be quite dismissive of religious hypocrisy. His denunciations of such hypocrisy were withering. But he had nothing but compassion for human weakness and wounds. Far from breaking the bruised reed, Jesus would heal and restore it. And as for the smoldering wick, he would supply it with oil and re-ignite its flame.

So if you’re feeling bruised today, or if your faith is smoldering, don’t hesitate to approach Jesus. He will receive you with arms wide open in compassion. He will comfort and restore you with gentleness and lovingkindness. 

He will receive you with arms wide open.

Say Goodbye to Condemnation

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

                                                            Romans 8:1

There are no words in all of Scripture more liberating than Paul’s simple, unequivocal declaration that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Let’s take a closer look at the key words of this verse.

Therefore. In the first seven chapters of his letter to the Romans Paul has given the most detailed exposition of the gospel in all of Scripture. The word ‘therefore’ signals that Paul is going to reveal the glorious outcome of the gospel and it’s personal impact on our lives.

Now. Paul wants us to know he is not talking about the distant future or the afterlife. He’s talking about a present reality that begins the moment we receive the gospel.

No condemnation. Condemnation is that paralyzing sense of disapproval and judgment one feels upon being found guilty. Paul says there is to be none of that for those who are in Christ. The word ‘no’ is absolute. He doesn't say there may be some condemnation from time to time. He rules it out altogether.

This is vividly illustrated in the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:1-11). The Scribes and Pharisees encircled her, stones in hand, breathing out anger and condemnation. When Jesus confronted them, saying, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone,” they walked away one by one. Turning to the distraught woman he said, “Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, Lord.” And then he said: “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

Can you imagine Christ speaking those words directly to you? Because that, in effect, is what Paul is saying in Romans 8:1.

This is the glorious outcome of the gospel. This is the gift Christ has for us here and now. Others might condemn us. We might even condemn ourselves. But Christ? Never. In him there is no condemnation. None.

Say goodbye to condemnation!

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"Then comes intercession, the hardest work in the world – the giving of one’s self, time, strength, energy, and attention to the needs of others in a way that no one but God see, no one but God will do anything about, and no one but God will reward you for."

Delighting in God

Delight yourself also in the Lord,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Surveys consistently show that the vast majority of Americans believe in God. In some surveys, nine out of ten Americans profess such belief. But how many of those who say they believe in God can also say they delight in God? Not many, I suspect.

For the average nominal believer, God is mostly irrelevant, except in times of crisis or great need. And even among those who devoutly believe, delight in God is all too rare. For many, God is more a cause of anxious concern than delight, as they struggle with unresolved guilt and premonitions of judgment.

What does it mean, then, to delight in God? Delighting in God means enjoying God’s presence. It means that duties such as prayer, reading the Word, and worship are not really duties at all, but pleasures. It means that doing the will of God is not burdensome but food and drink for the soul.

Best of all, when we delight in God, God delights in us and is pleased grant us the desires of our heart.

Such delight is itself a gift from God, the sweet fruit of his Spirit at work within us. By his grace may we move beyond mere belief to holy delight in the Lord.

Beyond mere belief to holy delight!