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"Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am" (Philippians 4:11)
Thomas Paine, the political author of the late 1700's, wrote that "these are the times that try men's souls." From what I see and hear all about us today, beloved, that statement spoken in the throes of the American struggle for freedom could well be repeated today. These are the times that try men's souls! Uncertainty about the future abounds and with it fear and anxiety. What are we to do? How can we get on top of all this stress and angst?
How many of you recall the commercial first released years ago by the Carnation company claiming that their milk came only from "contented" cows? Watch out! You're dating yourself with this one! With the possible exception of that early advertisement and its use of this wonderful word, we really seem to know very little today about the quality of genuine "contentment"! Yet it is one of the most fundamental qualities of the Christian life which is taught in the Scriptures.
The Greek word autarkes means literally "suffice oneself" or "be sufficient unto oneself." The focus of the word is clearly upon not needing to depend upon others. In the verse which precedes this one, beloved, we find the apostle acknowledging the sacrificial gift of the Philippian believers, knowing that due to the persecution they were suffering, it had been difficult for them to send anything to him and that even now they had needed to scrape such a gift together to send to him. He did not want them to think that he had been languishing in his circumstances under house-arrest and wringing his hands, only to revive his joy and his trust in God when their gift had arrived.
And it is in his explanation to them of his inward calmness of spirit that we find our own true test of personal trust in God today. Paul had grown up around material prosperity but had in his ministry known abject poverty as well. He had experienced both ends of the "prosperity" spectrum and had learned the secret of trusting God in each and every circumstance of life. That secret he had revealed to them a bit earlier in this letter:
"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (1:21)
Jesus Christ had become the "core" of the apostle's life, his reason for living. Thus, into whatever circumstances his path with Christ led him, Paul was content because he had been led there by Christ, would be sustained there by Christ, and would be led forth by Christ. He was truly content with his life because it was focused completely upon the person of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Would you know such contentment as this today, beloved? Then set the needle of your compass upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Make knowing Him and serving Him the central point of your existence and you too will discover this same contentment in all things which was the life experience of the apostle. Let Him be Lord of your life and what surrounds you will cease to cause you worry or anxiety. You will respond to your circumstances with the same calmness of spirit exhibited by Paul in these verses. It will all become part of the backdrop of God's plan for you and you will learn to rejoice in His sovereign control over your life. You will give Him praise as did Paul when times are tough and when times are good. You will find a sense of self-sufficiency that is rooted in the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ!
Ron
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The Measure of Real Faith
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1, NAS)
I believe that it was in the 1970's that it became quite common for people to hear the exhortation to "keep the faith," beloved. Unfortunately, no one ever really explained what that "faith" was which everyone was being urged to keep!
The Bible urges us as Christians to "keep the faith" in our daily living today. The Apostle Paul put it in this unique way:
"In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one" (Ephesians 6:16)
But how can we ever "keep the faith" when we don't always understand what it is and how it operates in our lives? The writer of the book of Hebrews has masterfully defined what "faith" is and, in doing so, has also explained for us how it is to operate. Note first the declaration that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for." The Greek word hupostasis means literally "a standing underneath" in the sense of that which lies at the foundation of anything. This author declared faith to be the assurance of "things hoped for,"of all that we cannot now see but know is there and will be ours. What God has promised us, then, we put our faith in completely, knowing that the promises of God are "yea and amen" in Christ!
"For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us" (2 Corinthians 1:20, KJV)
We exercise true "faith," beloved, not because of any strength or power inherent in us, but because the One who has made those promises is Himself faithful! So "faith" is the assurance that God can and will take care of us.
But the writer of Hebrews added the statement that faith is also "the conviction of things not seen." The Greek word elegchos means literally "a proving" as in something that has been put to the test and found to be real. Such "conviction," then, is based upon what God has done in the past! That the promises of God have been long-proven is one of the major claims of Scripture:
"Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him" (Proverbs 30:5)
The Hebrew word tsaraph is a "smelting" term having to do with the refining of ore. The promises of God have all been tested and proven in the "fires" of life's daily trials. We do not need to react to each new trial of life as if God had never before proven Himself faithful to us! His promises are true and His providence unfailing. Just what is the measure of your faith?
Ron
I believe that it was in the 1970's that it became quite common for people to hear the exhortation to "keep the faith," beloved. Unfortunately, no one ever really explained what that "faith" was which everyone was being urged to keep!
The Bible urges us as Christians to "keep the faith" in our daily living today. The Apostle Paul put it in this unique way:
"In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one" (Ephesians 6:16)
But how can we ever "keep the faith" when we don't always understand what it is and how it operates in our lives? The writer of the book of Hebrews has masterfully defined what "faith" is and, in doing so, has also explained for us how it is to operate. Note first the declaration that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for." The Greek word hupostasis means literally "a standing underneath" in the sense of that which lies at the foundation of anything. This author declared faith to be the assurance of "things hoped for,"of all that we cannot now see but know is there and will be ours. What God has promised us, then, we put our faith in completely, knowing that the promises of God are "yea and amen" in Christ!
"For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us" (2 Corinthians 1:20, KJV)
We exercise true "faith," beloved, not because of any strength or power inherent in us, but because the One who has made those promises is Himself faithful! So "faith" is the assurance that God can and will take care of us.
But the writer of Hebrews added the statement that faith is also "the conviction of things not seen." The Greek word elegchos means literally "a proving" as in something that has been put to the test and found to be real. Such "conviction," then, is based upon what God has done in the past! That the promises of God have been long-proven is one of the major claims of Scripture:
"Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him" (Proverbs 30:5)
The Hebrew word tsaraph is a "smelting" term having to do with the refining of ore. The promises of God have all been tested and proven in the "fires" of life's daily trials. We do not need to react to each new trial of life as if God had never before proven Himself faithful to us! His promises are true and His providence unfailing. Just what is the measure of your faith?
Ron
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Check the Price Tag!
"Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19)
How many of you have ever had the experience, beloved, of checking out the price tag of a particular garment in a store and gasping in amazement at how expensive it was? I have known folks who have treated themselves to such an item, then later when wearing it and having it admired, have replied, "What? This old thing? Why, I've had it ages!"
It is true that perishable items such as clothing, household furniture, and automobiles do grow older and eventually wear out, becoming to us "this old thing" or "our old clunker," regardless of what we originally paid for it. And there is absolutely nothing unusual about such a quirk of human nature.
But Peter was talking about a "price tag" of a different sort, beloved. He was writing about the price of your individual redemption and mine. And the price that God had to pay to buy us back from sin should absolutely always make us gasp in utter amazement! Nor should there ever come a time when we view our salvation through God's grace as "this old thing" and something that we've had forever.
Yet that is precisely what happens in the minds of so many Christians today. We become so accustomed to being saved that it almost comes to be "second-nature" to us. In essence, it becomes "this old thing" that we take for granted! And the longer that we are saved, the more likely we are to develop such an attitude within.
What is so deadly about such an attitude is how it affects our relationship with God. Once we begin to devalue the cost of His grace in our lives, we begin to minimize the awfulness of sin in our thinking. We lose sight of the impact that our sinfulness has upon the perfect holiness of God. And as sin loses its ugliness to us, we further minimize the need for His grace and, thus, the high price which He had to pay. Such a process becomes a vicious cycle of downward progression.
Another area that is affected is our attitude toward the lost around us. Because we take God's grace for granted in our own lives, it becomes difficult to feel heartbroken over those who do not yet know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It is difficult to feel any sense of burden for them. And when that happens, our zeal for "missions" diminishes and can be lost altogether.
What is the solution, then? I think that it is very simple. Go back and look once again, really look, at the "price tag" of your salvation! Stand there and realize that it cost the Lord Jesus Christ His very blood to buy you out of sin and into the family of God. Read and re-read Peter's words about how it took "the precious blood" of Christ, the unblemished Lamb of God, to satisfy our sin-debt and to set us free from its bondage. Then fall on your knees before God and begin to truly praise Him for heaven's greatest gift, that of eternal life. When you do, you will find yourself crying out with the Apostle Paul:
"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15)
I believe that, were Paul still living on earth today, he would agree with the words of Charles Gabriel, the most prolific gospel song writer of the Billy Sunday evangelistic era (1910-1920):
"I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me, a sinner condemned, unclean.
How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be;
How marvelous! How wonderful is my Savior's love for me!"
Go check the price tag one more time, beloved! When you do, I don't think you will ever see your salvation in the same light again.
Ron
How many of you have ever had the experience, beloved, of checking out the price tag of a particular garment in a store and gasping in amazement at how expensive it was? I have known folks who have treated themselves to such an item, then later when wearing it and having it admired, have replied, "What? This old thing? Why, I've had it ages!"
It is true that perishable items such as clothing, household furniture, and automobiles do grow older and eventually wear out, becoming to us "this old thing" or "our old clunker," regardless of what we originally paid for it. And there is absolutely nothing unusual about such a quirk of human nature.
But Peter was talking about a "price tag" of a different sort, beloved. He was writing about the price of your individual redemption and mine. And the price that God had to pay to buy us back from sin should absolutely always make us gasp in utter amazement! Nor should there ever come a time when we view our salvation through God's grace as "this old thing" and something that we've had forever.
Yet that is precisely what happens in the minds of so many Christians today. We become so accustomed to being saved that it almost comes to be "second-nature" to us. In essence, it becomes "this old thing" that we take for granted! And the longer that we are saved, the more likely we are to develop such an attitude within.
What is so deadly about such an attitude is how it affects our relationship with God. Once we begin to devalue the cost of His grace in our lives, we begin to minimize the awfulness of sin in our thinking. We lose sight of the impact that our sinfulness has upon the perfect holiness of God. And as sin loses its ugliness to us, we further minimize the need for His grace and, thus, the high price which He had to pay. Such a process becomes a vicious cycle of downward progression.
Another area that is affected is our attitude toward the lost around us. Because we take God's grace for granted in our own lives, it becomes difficult to feel heartbroken over those who do not yet know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It is difficult to feel any sense of burden for them. And when that happens, our zeal for "missions" diminishes and can be lost altogether.
What is the solution, then? I think that it is very simple. Go back and look once again, really look, at the "price tag" of your salvation! Stand there and realize that it cost the Lord Jesus Christ His very blood to buy you out of sin and into the family of God. Read and re-read Peter's words about how it took "the precious blood" of Christ, the unblemished Lamb of God, to satisfy our sin-debt and to set us free from its bondage. Then fall on your knees before God and begin to truly praise Him for heaven's greatest gift, that of eternal life. When you do, you will find yourself crying out with the Apostle Paul:
"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15)
I believe that, were Paul still living on earth today, he would agree with the words of Charles Gabriel, the most prolific gospel song writer of the Billy Sunday evangelistic era (1910-1920):
"I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me, a sinner condemned, unclean.
How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be;
How marvelous! How wonderful is my Savior's love for me!"
Go check the price tag one more time, beloved! When you do, I don't think you will ever see your salvation in the same light again.
Ron
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Outside-in or Inside-out?
"And He was saying, 'That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man'" (Mark 20:7)
The essential difference between Christianity and any other religion, beloved, is basically one of direction. Religion as man practices it today all over the world is that of changing one's outward behavior to adapt to a rigid set of moral and ethical rules. And many are quite successful at such adaptation. How often have we heard this religious group or that one commended for their fervency and zeal in living by a strict code of conduct - dress, behavior, social relationships - and even in their seeking of new converts to their belief system? What we are seeing all around us today is evidence of an "outside-in" approach to religious belief and practice.
Jesus, however, in teaching His disciples what the nature of true "religion" is, declared that what is necessary is an "inside-out" approach. Whereas mankind has the tendency to believe that everyone is essentially good on the inside and that life is simply a matter of lining up one's behavior with one's inward goodness, Jesus said that what is on the outside is merely a reflection of what is wrong on the inside! In other words, we don't just have a problem with our "doer," we have a deeper problem with our "want-er"! And Jesus said that what is wrong within every man is sin. As the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome so graphically describing this deepest need:
"As it is written, 'There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one'" (Romans 3:10-12)
So much for man's inward goodness, beloved! All of the "outside-in" religious efforts, then, no matter how well-intentioned, will accomplish nothing because there is nothing good on the inside for us to model!
What makes Christianity so unique, then, is that only Jesus Christ promises to change what is wrong on the inside of us so that what we do on the outside becomes a natural reflection of the new creation that He has made us on the inside. The apostle Paul put it so beautifully and clearly when he wrote to the Corinthian church and said:
"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The "outside-in" approach will always be with us, beloved. There will always be those by the thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, who will insist on trying to conform themselves to a rigid code of conduct in hopes that, if they can just follow it closely enough, perhaps somewhere and somehow their notion of eternal life might be possible.
As Christians, what an opportunity is ours today to exhibit by contrast the wondrous change that Jesus Christ can make as we demonstrate His own "inside-out" miracle of spiritual transformation! Because what He makes us on the inside is what people should see on the outside, we can have opportunity to impact our world for Jesus Christ. We are not "religious" because we make ourselves religious by keeping our noses to the proverbial "grindstone." We are Christ-like because by His grace we have been changed forever from the inside out! Thanks be unto God for His indescribable gift! Are you living your life today "inside-out"?
Ron
The essential difference between Christianity and any other religion, beloved, is basically one of direction. Religion as man practices it today all over the world is that of changing one's outward behavior to adapt to a rigid set of moral and ethical rules. And many are quite successful at such adaptation. How often have we heard this religious group or that one commended for their fervency and zeal in living by a strict code of conduct - dress, behavior, social relationships - and even in their seeking of new converts to their belief system? What we are seeing all around us today is evidence of an "outside-in" approach to religious belief and practice.
Jesus, however, in teaching His disciples what the nature of true "religion" is, declared that what is necessary is an "inside-out" approach. Whereas mankind has the tendency to believe that everyone is essentially good on the inside and that life is simply a matter of lining up one's behavior with one's inward goodness, Jesus said that what is on the outside is merely a reflection of what is wrong on the inside! In other words, we don't just have a problem with our "doer," we have a deeper problem with our "want-er"! And Jesus said that what is wrong within every man is sin. As the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome so graphically describing this deepest need:
"As it is written, 'There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one'" (Romans 3:10-12)
So much for man's inward goodness, beloved! All of the "outside-in" religious efforts, then, no matter how well-intentioned, will accomplish nothing because there is nothing good on the inside for us to model!
What makes Christianity so unique, then, is that only Jesus Christ promises to change what is wrong on the inside of us so that what we do on the outside becomes a natural reflection of the new creation that He has made us on the inside. The apostle Paul put it so beautifully and clearly when he wrote to the Corinthian church and said:
"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The "outside-in" approach will always be with us, beloved. There will always be those by the thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, who will insist on trying to conform themselves to a rigid code of conduct in hopes that, if they can just follow it closely enough, perhaps somewhere and somehow their notion of eternal life might be possible.
As Christians, what an opportunity is ours today to exhibit by contrast the wondrous change that Jesus Christ can make as we demonstrate His own "inside-out" miracle of spiritual transformation! Because what He makes us on the inside is what people should see on the outside, we can have opportunity to impact our world for Jesus Christ. We are not "religious" because we make ourselves religious by keeping our noses to the proverbial "grindstone." We are Christ-like because by His grace we have been changed forever from the inside out! Thanks be unto God for His indescribable gift! Are you living your life today "inside-out"?
Ron
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